


Below the Surface

by Wildeve_of_the_Heath



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Excessive Cursing, F/F, Stockholm Syndrome, cliche allusions, influenced by black lagoon, mentions of zombie apocalypse, no seriously look at her in this thing, ymir is snk's revy, yumikuri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-09
Updated: 2014-09-09
Packaged: 2018-02-16 19:25:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 49,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2281716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wildeve_of_the_Heath/pseuds/Wildeve_of_the_Heath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the water, she found a form floating and was, for the first time, shocked. She expected to find a fat man who failed to pay off debts or a dismembered prostitute who was just too disgusting, that was what those kind associated with, right? No, instead she found a teenage girl bobbing along the surface.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I decided to move any completed works from ff.net to here, anything else that's being developed are not posted here until they are finished. I make some final edits to them and whatnot...so, here we go, enjoy this
> 
>  
> 
> [Original Work](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10309821/1/Below-the-Surface)

Work wasn't pleasant, not at all.

Ymir cursed under her breath over the idiocy of her coworker.

Reiner could hardly fill out a properly written, though false, report of inventory to save his life. The boss learned of it, discovered that he was smuggling out booze for himself, and promptly lashed out at all of his workers, Ymir included. She was forced to spend an extra hour or so tending the bar, uttering bullshit under her breath, and serving the customers in disdain. Luckily no one spoke to her, when she was in a foul mood, the patrons knew her well enough to give her space.

She was intimidating enough as she was.

At around midnight she was allowed to leave, she was given Reiner's shift after all. The bar was still open as Bertolt and Annie had taken part in covering the rest of the hours.

Groaning to herself, she slung her shoulder bag over her hip and made her usual route for home. The route consisted of walking several blocks, going through a couple alleyways, and then across the train tracks to where the wharf was. Above her, lamps flickered on and off, and the signs that once hung proudly now either clung to their posts by a screw or were completely torn off.

The scent of the sea, all of its filth really, was what she called home. Cries of some gulls that flew overhead and the distant horns of ships elsewhere was all natural to her. However, she lacked appreciation for them and only yearned for the comfort of her bed.

A yawned escaped her. The trouble Reiner gave her slid off of her shoulder by the time she reached the pier. Her home was tied at the other end apart from the others that were fastened by. No one was up at this hour, not when she eventually arrived; that was what she thought until a large splash caught her ears.

Someone decided to skinny dip now?

She shrugged it away and went on, her body seemed to have dragged her feet.

In the darkness, following the splash, two men dressed in black emerged. They were both gaunt old men whose gazes were fixated ahead, not making contact with her own. One bumped shoulders with her and didn't apologize.

"Fuck you too," Ymir grunted, but she picked up on their intentions when they went into a car in the lot a few yards away and drove off in haste, tires screeching.

She never noticed the car until now. Instinct kicked in, they came here to dump a body. That's pretty low considering where she lived. It was the residential part of the pier, no one would be stupid enough to just dispose evidence where civilians were. Unfortunately for her, they had came from the end of the docks, from where her home was.

Despite her exhaustion, she sprinted down the boardwalk to her ketch. She slung her bag on board and threw herself over as well to fetch a flashlight by the wheel. She leaped back onto the dock and peered over the edge for the dark waters, her flashlight illuminated it to bring on a hue of blue and green; white foam and bubbles at the edge of her light lead her to point it in that direction.

In the water, she found a form floating and was, for the first time, was shocked. She expected to find a fat man who failed to pay off debts or dismembered prostitute who was just too disgusting, that was what those kind associated with, right? No, instead she found a teenage girl bobbing along the surface. She stayed afloat until she suddenly began sinking.

"Holy shit," Ymir muttered as she placed the flashlight down. She quickly got to the floor and reached for the girl's arm, then pulled her close. With great effort, she fought against the water to haul her over. She laid her upon her back and pressed her ear against her soaking wet chest; the sound of a heartbeat signaled life and amazingly she was still breathing.

She was unconscious.

Ymir wasn't one to call the cops, she didn't favor authority much and she definitely wouldn't start asking for their help now.

She couldn't just leave her like this. Those old fucks may come back or maybe one of her "neighbors" would get the wrong idea, after all, the girl looked barely legal. Ymir deliberated on what to do, then reached a conclusion after a minute.

She gathered the young girl in her arms, took the flashlight, and went aboard her boat. She managed to open the hatch that led below deck and skipped two stairs; it wasn't large but it was enough for Ymir to comfortably stand in, though she had to go sideways to ensure the girl she carried would fit with her. The girl was heavy with the amount of water she took in, it bothered Ymir that she was dripping over the floor since she might slip.

She took her into her small loft, which was combined with a kitchen, and placed her upon the sofa. Of course, Ymir brushed away the cans of beer left on the surface, along with a couple porno magazines; they were all tossed to the side and fell to the floor. She reached to the left to turn on the light, she could see her clearly now.

The girl was blond, short, and had flawless skin that put the moon's beauty to shame. She wore a rather nice blouse that, when dry, could compliment her figure but now it clung to her skin, her jeans did as well. Ymir debated on whether to strip her naked, though the thought of doing so to an underage person bothered her.

"We're both girls...and she has a bra on, it should be fine," Ymir told herself.

Fighting through the awkwardness, she pulled off the girl's blouse and tossed it to the sink. She then worked on removing her jeans, thus exposing the girl completely to her. Ymir had to admit, she had quite a pleasing figure, she even gave a small nod of approval but remembered that she had no idea what her age was. As she got the last leg out, something fell out of the back pocket, a wallet.

She picked it up after tossing the jeans.

When she opened it, she found an identification card.

"...Krista Lenz, alright, sounds cute. Hm, hm...eh? Nineteen?!"

Ymir gazed at her again.

The revelation of her age changed her impression of her, and a burning feeling rose in her gut. This girl- no, woman had suddenly caught her attention to the fullest, but for now she had to wait. She had her tastes but it didn't mean she lacked morals. Plus, those men she saw last tried to kill her, she felt something was up for having found a woman that was too pretty for her own good.

She got up and went to the bathroom to fetch several towels, she proceeded to dry her off as best she could, then went back and got a blanket to wrap around her comfortably. Once she was taken cared of, she began to worry for the men again- they might come back eventually. Ymir stalled for a moment, she wanted to go off into the harbor but then they may remember her boat and know who to target- they seen her face but not her home.

In the end, she decided to close the hatch and wait until morning.

She got up, closed the hatch, and went about her daily routine of going to bed.

Along the way to her bed after turning off the lights, she stripped down to her boxers and bra, she scattered her clothes and boots off to the side and collapsed onto her bed. In the darkness, she faced Krista and drifted into sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The boat rocked up and down in the gentle waves that splashed against the bow.

The motion was common yet she woke up in the first light of day. It was her own snoring that roused her, she snorted and threw her legs over the edge to sit up. As blood rushed down from her head, she reached over to the table off the side of her bed for a bottle of beer. She drank it slowly, enjoying the foam that accumulated in her mouth while getting up and walking to the small kitchen.

She stooped low for the fridge and checked for anything to eat, much to her luck, there was a carton of eggs in the way back. She placed her beer on a rack and took the carton; she turned for the sink to where she normally kept her pan but she found a pair of wet pants and a blouse sitting there.

She questioned them for a moment, her brow raised dumbly.

A small groan came from behind her.

"Oh, riiiiight," she muttered.

Ymir turned around to see the younger woman sleeping peacefully on the couch across from her. Still swathed in a blanket, she hadn't moved much in her position. Ymir placed the carton back in the fridge and checked on her by shaking her gently. The woman stirred, groaned again, and shifted around.

"Oi, c'mon," Ymir told her, she shook her a bit harder and those eyelids lifted themselves, slowly.

"...huh?"

Staring at her were a pair of blues that were more beautiful than the waters. They were so pure that Ymir had to admire them, she looked down at her, surprised and trapped in wonder. Yup, it was the eyes that drew her in, they were too gorgeous. She blinked a few times to draw herself back into attention as she knelt down beside her.

Krista immediately sat up and brought the blanket up to cover herself. "W-who're you?"

"I was gonna ask the same thing," Ymir said,"mind telling me why those men tried to dump you?"

Krista grew silent, she hesitated to speak, then she got to her feet. "I...I need to get home-"

"Hold on," Ymir firmly told her while holding her arm, she sat her down and used both of her hands to look at her head. She tried to shy away but Ymir's grip was stronger to keep her steady. There was a bruise on her temple, she was hit pretty hard. "You need that iced, don't move."

Ymir got up and went to the bathroom. Given that she lived on a boat, she thought it better to keep some sort of first aid; there was a single kit in the cupboard, she sifted through it and found a pack. She cracked the contents and felt it grow cold, she went back to the kitchen and placed the pack to the woman's head.

Krista took it to her hand and held it in place.

"The name's Ymir and you're on board the _Dancing Titan_ , _Titan_ for short," Ymir explained. "It's not much but it's home to me."

"We're on a boat?" Krista asked, shocked.

"More of a sailboat, a ketch really. You're at the Bay of Trost, it's this bay on the south coast."

She looked crestfallen, lost even. "I'm so far..."

"Far from?" Ymir asked, head craning to the side in curiosity.

"Mitras."

"The capitol? Geeze, that's pretty damn far inland." She crossed her arms over her chest as she repeated,"Now, who were those men?"

Krista shifted uncomfortably, her hand clenched her blanket taut and her gaze shifted to the ground. "...I don't know."

"And you think I'm gonna buy that?"

"I really don't!" She snapped. "I came home from class, the house was empty, and when I went to find my mother everything went black!"

Ymir slowly nodded. "Uh-huh, yeah, still not buying it."

"Then give me my clothes and I'll just be on my way."

She sidled off to the side to show her the wet clothes in the sink. "Go ahead, be my guest, I ain't stopping you."

"...do you have any clothes to spare?"

"You lie to me, say you want to go, and then ask for clothes, pretty sure kids these days are getting ruder by the minute," Ymir scoffed, she was starting to become unimpressed by her. However, the bruise on her head was the only evidence of the girl's story. Those men were responsible for whatever happened to her; she couldn't help but give her pity.

Just a tiny bit.

"You're lucky you're cute, stay put and I'll get you something."

A feint blush stained her cheeks but she nodded and brought the blanket higher to cover her collarbone.

Ymir moved by her and went into her small room to fetch a random pair of shorts and a loose white shirt; she tossed them over to her as she went back to making breakfast.

"Thank you," Krista told her softly as she started putting them on.

"Just give those back when you want to go." She reached for a pan as she started up the stove. "So you said you study?"

"I study at the University of Mitras," she explained after she slipped the shorts on. They were jeans and, over the years, had shrunk for Ymir; they luckily fit well for Krista. The shirt, however, was large and easily covered her hips. "I just started there about...a day ago."

Ymir gave an acknowledge hum as she cracked the egg over some melted butter in the pan. The sizzling whites splashed over her skin but she didn't mind it. The girl seemed to have lived a normal life. She lived with her parents, she had a job, and she was going to start school. Nothing odd about her.

"What about your dad?"

"Oh, I don't know much about him, he left when I was a kid, I was real young too. My mom never spoke either so I never bothered to figure it out."

"Heh, heard mine was a bastard anyway, that makes me one too."

They ate the eggs, it was a meager meal as Ymir usually ate at the bar. By the time they were done, the sound of voices from outside called their attention, immediately Ymir stood up and checked out of the port window that gave a view to the ground level of the dock. She could see two pairs of feet, both of which were clad in nice slacks and shined shoes, much similar to those men from last night.

She turned to Krista and pressed her finger to her lips, the young blond, whose face was slightly brightening over breakfast, faltered with a look of dread.

Ymir sped to her room, threw on a pair of jeans and a tank top, and headed for the hatch door. She popped her head out to see two men, they were, indeed, the same from last night.

"...should be below the surface by now," one of them said, they were both looking over the edge.

"How deep is this place anyway?" Another asked.

"I dunno, she said to go to the nearest dock...wasn't really specific."

A phone rang, one of them answered.

"...yeah, the girl's gone. No trace. Witnesses?"

He turned around, Ymir was too slow to duck, she wasn't expecting him.

'Shit.'

"There's none, ma'am...alright. Yes, ma'am." He hung up. "Let's go-"

"Hold on...do you see that?"

"Forget it, Auruo. Let's just go."

They departed once more. Ymir reached low for the binoculars that hung by the door at all times, she used it and checked out their car's making and plate number. After easily memorizing them, she went back under deck and hanged the binoculars back. Paranoia set in, did they really see her?

"Those guys came back to check if you're dead, kinda weird, eh?" Ymir asked. "Good thing you didn't leave earlier, I wouldn't wanna be in your position."

"...if I can't leave to go home, what should I do?"

Ymir scratched the back of her neck. "Hnm, that's not exactly my problem-"

"How much do you want?"

"Huh?" She craned her head to the side.

"How much money? Look, I never met my dad but he gives my mom and I more than enough money to live off of. Bottom line, all I know is that he's rich, I can get you money, just help me back home safely. Please."

The sound of money always attracted Ymir. It awakened something inside that she thought she long left away, locked in the recesses in which she cast the key into the waters and tried to abandon. She never said no to money, it was a love she had for all her life, it was a constant that was always...there.

For the passed three years, she spent her time in Trost, idle with an income to keep her rental spot in the wharf. She lived her life without much happening, and she had to admit that it was getting boring in this quiet place. Two men in black came to dump the body of a supposedly dead teenage girl that was too beautiful for her age, this was out of some typical movie but it was something she spent months waiting for.

If she went along with the flow, a large sum of cash was at the end of it all.

"How much are you offering?"

"Anything you want, a couple thousand."

Ymir scoffed. "I can get that easy."

"A million."

"That's easy too."

"Five million."

"Oh, getting hotter."

"Ten!"

A small bell rang in her ears.

"Now you're talking. Fine, I'll get you back to Mitras," Ymir agreed with a smile. "The prize better be there when we get there, I don't play around when it comes to money."

-...-

Today was a day off for her but she called in anyway to tell her boss that she was going on leave for an unspecified amount of time. He was willing to let her go, no qualms came after since there wasn't much a relationship. She did her best to keep her head low, she never started trouble unless Reiner was involved. Little trouble rewarded her with a quiet leave.

She didn't let Krista raise her head above deck, those men may return again for some ungodly reason, and the girl was willing to comply to whatever Ymir told to do. She only wanted to return home.

"How are we going to get there?" She asked as Ymir went to her room for the third time. She was searching about, that old book she tossed elsewhere was nowhere to be found, she kicked herself mentally as she tossed aside a porno.

"I have a friend I need to touch up on before we head out," Ymir said as she rifled through her clothes. Eventually, underneath several layers, she found a small pocket book sitting in the corner by the heater. "Knowing how much you're offering and how bad they want you dead, every inch of your body may cost more than a million to them."

"That's flattering of you," Krista flatly told her.

Ymir settled at the bed and flipped through the pages. Each page had red lines over names and numbers. "No. No. No...-oh, here's a good one. Ugh, but he hates me."

"Huh?"

"This guy I knew a while back, we used to work together but I kinda left him out to dry once. Lucky you, he owes me a favor."

Krista sat on the bed next to her to glance at the book. "What are the red lines?"

"It means they're dead," she conversationally told her with a shrug. The blond's yes grew wide in shock as Ymir stood up. "Stay down here while I get us out of the harbor, once we're out I'll let you know so you can come up here."

Ymir brought the book out on deck with her. She stored it by the wheel and went over to the dock to untie the ropes that tethered the _Titan_ to the wharf. It really has been a while, it took a near hour to undo the taut lines. When she had the rope loose, she tossed it on board and hopped back on deck. As the boat drifted off, she took the wheel and stirred it, going port side into the open waters.

Cruising upon the waters was a feeling Ymir longed for, she didn't appreciate the sentiment until now when she hadn't done such a thing for a while. Her ketch was of an average sized one, it was enough for herself to pilot single handed. It was wooden, it was something rare to see in these parts among the modern boats that were clad in white with blue accents.

Unlike them, her ketch was painted with red accents over the golden yellow of wood. Across the bow's side was the name, the back also had the name too; however, she lacked a figurehead at the front.

She missed the other boat she had, a speed boat. It was much more preferred than this old tub but she hadn't had a need to travel fast anymore, she still hoped that it was being cared for somewhere.

The _Titan_ exited the bay soundlessly, it passed by the others that floated here and there without bothering anyone. She stepped away from the wheel and knocked on the hatch, saying,"It's safe to get out," while heading over the the rigging. She loosened the sails as Krista cautiously peeked out. "Hope you don't get sea sick."

"I'm fine," Krista said, as she took a seat on a bench behind the wheel. When the proper precautions were made, she went back to the wheel and casually piloted, her concerns of anything were seemingly gone. "So where's your friend?"

"Drifts here and there but from what I've heard, he's set up base at the other side of the bay, be a bit of a pain to walk you all the way there." She pointed her thumb to the left as she steered in that direction.

The blistering sun bathed over the two but the wind from the air cooled them, offering compensation.

They came across a pier that was far apart from the others, it consisted of a warehouse with a garage that opened into the open waters. Today the garage was open with the familiar patrol boat safely tucked into its containing area. Inside consisted of a plethora of boat parts and tools, engines and frames, lifts and cranes, it was a workshop. What broke its appearance were the myriads of guns adorning the walls.

Krista backed herself into a corner of her seat.

"Don't worry," Ymir laughed as she offered her a hand. "You never seen a gun before in your life?"

"I just...that's a lot of guns your friend has," she murmured lowly. She flinched when yelling descended from the upstairs.

"Been a long time, bitch!" The greeting came.

From the steel stairs came down a man who wore a wife beater and jeans. His two-toned hair was just as striking as the oil stain on his cheek, he was throwing a towel over his shoulder as a scowl marred his face.

"Missed you too!" Ymir said in return.

She leaped up to the ground floor but was welcomed with a fist to the face. Another man adorned with freckles came rushing down the stairs. As Ymir readied to protect herself, the man held the assailant back. "Easy there, Jean, calm down!"

Ymir wiped saliva off of the corner of her mouth. "Damn, you must have really missed me."

"This bitch left me to die out there!" Jean shouted in rage.

"But you're alive to hit me, and I will admit that I deserved that," Ymir slowly told him with both her hands up in mocking surrender. "Look, as much as I hate to lower my level to you, I have a sweet deal for you that you might wanna hear."

"Deal, sweet deal, like I never heard that before!"

Marco effectively held Jean taut, this allowed Ymir to approach him closely to whisper,"See the girl in my boat?"

"...yeah," Jean spat, he glanced at Krista,"is she your latest fuck-buddy? Looks pretty clean for your level."

"Girl's loaded," Ymir tried to convince him, she kept her voice low enough for Krista to be unable to hear her. "Like, fucking loaded. I get her home, she gives me a shit ton of money. I'll give you...ten percent."

Jean glared at her, doubting that she would hold true to her offering, but once he ceased to struggle against Marco, she knew she had his attention.

She edged him on. "Ten million."

Marco slowly released him, he was more interested in this than Jean. "How do you know?"

"A pair of guys in black came wandering on my dock last night. They came to dump her body, girl's still alive, see? I bring her in, make sure she's fine. Next day, you get these two guys, same ones, come back to make sure she's dead. Whoever wanted her dead must really want her dead. She's from the government, she's part of some crime syndicate, she's a rich man's kid, point is, she's got money. You in?"

Jean thoughtfully rubbed his chin, he remembered the last time Ymir promised him a high paying contract that ended in him nearly escaping death. However, it was a mishap. In the past, Ymir was always true to completing deals, after all, he was her regular arms dealer. The last deal simply went sour with a hole in his precious boat.

"Do you know who wants her dead?" Marco inquired.

"She doesn't know either, or least she says she does."

Jean broke in. "Why come to me then?"

"Protection," Ymir concluded. "Those guys spotted me, if they periodically come to my dock, they're bound to notice I'm gone."

He skid the ground a few times with the tip of his boot. After a few beatings, he finally looked up at her. "Alright...I'm in. Marco, there's a duffel bag up in the back."

Marco nodded and ran up the stairs as Ymir offered a hand. "Thanks, man."

"I expect a whole bundle of cash in my hands," Jean said as he clapped his palm over hers. "Do you need anything else?"

"Hook me up with some train tickets to Mitras."

Jean nodded. "I take it you want me to watch over your boat since you'll be gone?"

Ymir stretched her arms back and yawned as they walked down the dock towards the _Titan_. "Yup, that too. Krista, get outta there, we're not gonna use that for a while."

Krista hesitated to stand up.

"The guy won't bite," she assured her as she stretched out a hand to her. Jean hopped into the boat, prompting her to rush out without Ymir's help. "Jumpy girl..."


	3. Chapter 3

"You're a bit tense," Marco said as he approached her.

She was sitting by the water and keeping her distance from Jean as he and Ymir were examining the guns she wanted.

Jean was, from what she could gather, an arms dealer that knew his way through business deals better than life itself. He pulled up several barrels for a rifle and allowed Ymir to look through scopes to see what was preferable. When she nodded in approval, they were placed in the duffel bag. They kept stealing glares with one another, each cautious to trust the other.

They were speaking to each other in low tones.

"I'm just a bit...confused is all," she slowly told him as he sat next to her.

"That's how everyone starts here," he conversationally told her. He reached back and offered her a can of coke. "Have some?"

She declined. "Thanks though. I have sensitive teeth, cold things kinda hurt."

"Suit yourself."

"Is Ymir reliable?" She asked suddenly.

He took a few sips and sighed out of relief for cooling his throat. "Pay enough and she'll be the most loyal whatever you want to consider her. Money's a language we all speak in this place- oh, sorry, just rambling." He modestly laughed, it was superfluous. "...so, you're from Mitras? Which part?"

"Kingston," she answered.

The city was comprised of various districts, each one was gauged by the wealth of the populous within the districts. Kingston, from what most knew from the city, was one of the most affluent parts; the rich lived there. By the way she acted, she didn't seem like she was from that place; while she promised money, the scent of it wasn't there.

"Nice place. Studied there once," he said, reminiscing. "The University...I miss that."

"Where are you from?"

"Trinity. It's out of the way in Mitras, that place where you go by before leaving the city, yeah, that little area."

"Ay!" Ymir called to them. "You done talking? We gotta get going or we'll miss the train. You're driving, Marco."

Marco stood up and gave his hand to Krista. She didn't take it and, instead, pushed herself to her feet on her own. Ymir eyed her as she stood up and brushed her legs. As much as she pledged to pay for help, she sure wasn't accepting any that was being offered to her free of cost.

Ymir fitted on a leather holster over her tank-top where dual Berettas rested under her arms. She had two more holsters for a pair of Colts. She had another pack that was fitted for the magazines, none of the firearms she wore were loaded for the moment. Krista froze at the sight of her, Ymir couldn't tell if it were in awe or fear, maybe both- she had a tendency to go quiet at the sight of guns.

"What?" Ymir bluntly asked her.

She stared back.

"You might wanna wear a shirt or something over that," Jean advised her as he walked by to slap a palm on her shoulder,"I can get you tickets, not security clearance."

"Rose County doesn't have security," Marco reminded him.

"But Sina County does, you're gonna get off at the Karenese Station to switch for the metro line heading for the Stohess, and after that, you'll reach Mitras without a problem."

Ymir brushed by Krista to hop onto her ketch, she disappeared under the hatch as Marco ascended the stairs to get whatever he needed.

Jean busied himself with placing the firearms and ammunition back into their respective drawers in a steel cabinet. At his feet to the right was a duffel bag, no doubt it was filled with more firearms. As his hands skillfully aligned the bullets in neat rows, Krista peered over the side.

"...that's...a lot of guns," Krista meekly commented, he merely grunted. "Why go to Karenese? We could have just gone north for Hermiha, it's quicker through there."

Jean shook his head. "News this morning said they closed off freeways to Hermiha yesterday morning, that includes any form of transportation. Train system would probably not operate to and from there, so the Karenese Station is the only one that's favorable. Yalkell is open too but that's pricy. You'll probably take four hours to get there with this route, not bad just by train."

"Only four hours to get home...I can't wait," she said more to herself, though her voice was laced with worry. "...the bag though, and what Ymir has, is that really needed to get me there? It's like she's getting ready for a gun show."

"Whatever you're involved in, it's probably into some deep shit. Really, I should be asking you why Ymir had to come to me for all this." He gave her an unpleasant look for a brief second, he went back to sorting his merchandise out. "Not every day you get dumped here in this dump. You better pay Ymir so she can pay me, every bullet she shoots is worth a dollar."

"I really don't know why I'm here," she repeated, she didn't seem like she was going to fight to prove her point.

"Hide it if you want to, Ymir finds things out pretty fast. She's selfish and reckless but it doesn't make her stupid-"

Ymir's booming voice caused Krista to leap a mile in her skin. "Hey! Marco! Let's get going, stop fixing your make-up!"

"I'm coming!"

Marco's footsteps above them thundered on the metal panels that acted as floors. He was kicked into hastening his efforts for preparations to leave, he nearly stumbled down the steps when he made his descent to the ground. Her voice, it had power to make men scramble to meet her needs. Ymir knew that, and she relished in that fact. As he skidded around a post, Ymir barked out a laugh and walked on.

Taking on a job as being an escort was a task she hadn't done in a long time. Taking a job, that was a long time too. Having authority when she commanded all by money and power, she missed that as well.

"Yo, Ymir," Jean called to her. He stood up as Krista followed Marco, he didn't even wait for the tall woman, he didn't want to be in her line of sight.

"Yeah?" She asked him curtly while adjusting her plaid long sleeves. She had traded her tank top for a black long-sleeved shirt.

"...if you wanna get there alive, don't do what you do."

She brushed off his advice. "Did the kid tell you anything?"

"Other than being curious as to why you're packing all this, not much." He picked up the bag and handed it to her.

"I would have been satisfied with these," she simply told him while nodding to her Beretta twins. "I thought you hated me but you're being too generous."

"Well, I got messages from Armin just this morning. Do you like surprises?"

Ymir shrugged as she hoisted the sling over her shoulder without effort. "I pulled a pretty girl from below the surface, that's a pleasant surprise."

Jean shook his head and folded his arms over his chest.

She frowned, displeased with his expression. "Alright, what did Armin say?"

"Military set up a check-point at Hermiha, I dunno what's up there. He says that they might move on to the Karenese or Yalkell, there's already deployments of troops in surrounding districts, Sina County is starting to be filled with them. If it goes on, they might turn check-points into blockades."

She raised a brow. This was going to get interesting.

"You'll have less trouble going through security if efforts are focused elsewhere, that's a plus, but you might end up in something real bad if things follow you around. Military or not, what your client is dealing with isn't something to you'd want to mess with...just be careful."

Ymir hacked something in her throat and spat it over the edge for the water. "I'm a dark horse, don't matter who I piss off as long as there's green at the end of it."

She headed for the door that lead to the mess of a garage for their vehicles.

"Damn, you hadn't changed a bit."

"Neither have you, thanks for my shit, Horseface."

-...-

They were taking the back road as Marco claimed that it was the fastest route there. Ymir declined argue, long routes to places didn't faze her. She sat in the front seat, boots up and on the dash with her bag of goodies sitting in the back with the other goods. She reached for her pack of cigarettes and readied one to Marco's displeasure.

"Please, not in the car, I just got it cleaned," Marco sighed.

She simply rolled down the window.

Several puffs billowed, several covered her lazy eyes as they stared off to the road ahead. She leaned back and propped her head against her resting arm. A car was coming in from further down the road. "Hey, Jean got any customers coming today?"

"Not at all, you're the first in weeks. Ever since Yaeger set up shop, he's been stealing most of them off of us, a pain really since Jean's got a soft side for the sister; he's letting it slide. Business isn't good if you ask me," Marco said with eyes rolling. He started to pull right to allow the car to drive by, but the other vehicle blocked their way, forcing them to stop.

Both cars were forced to stop in front of one another, nose to nose.

"Hm?"

Marco's hands were clutching the wheel for dear life. Two figures stepped out of the car. He seethed,"Shit, Yaeger!"

"Yaeger, Eren, right?" Ymir asked.

Standing from the passenger's side was a man dressed with a white, opened button down shirt, he donned aviator shades. His jeans were scuffed with black stains, oil. Opposite of him from the driver's seat was a woman dressed cleaner than him in a closed button down. Around her neck was a faded red scarf though a few darker, redder stains lined parts of it. Unlike her counterpart, she kept her eyes in plain sight, they were trained on Marco even as she stayed where she was.

"He got Mikasa too," he groaned softly.

Eren strutted over to their car, it was a direct line from his side. He stooped low as Marco lowered his window. "Is Jean in today?"

"Eren, we hadn't made a sale in over three months," Marco blurted out.

"Uh-huh, but that other business he has. The one with the little boats and stuff?"

"C'mon, you're gonna crush us. We already cut the cable last week, you don't know how Jean is without Oprah."

Ymir flicked her cigarette out of her window and raised her voice,"Ay, give the horse some loose reins and let him run the track. Why're you cutting off his income?"

Eren stooped lower, the sight of her brought a frown. "Oh, you're the one who makes shit cocktails down at the Three Walls. A bartender like you can't possibly know about things like this going on-"

She stepped out of the car, her anger brewing at a simple insult. However, Mikasa advanced upon her, her close presence was enough to keep Ymir in place. She talked over the roof so that Eren had to stand straight.

"My boss is always walking around with a stick up his ass because you and whoever you fuck over are starting shit at the bar; just last week you shot at our best patron, she's not happy and neither am I. You keep knocking on metal rather than wood in Trost and you're just asking someone to pop you sooner or later," she explained as she leaned against the roof with her elbow. "Ever thought of that?"

"Let them come to get me," Eren simply told her.

"Tch, not my problem but I gave you a warning." She ducked low and took her seat in the car. "Kill Jean and we'll be having problems."

"I'm not an animal," he said while waving away her words. He retreated back to his car, prompting Mikasa to do the same. Courteous as they portrayed themselves, they backed their car away to let Marco safely drive by. Without any problems, they drove passed one another and continued on their ways.

-...-

They went down the dirt path until Jean's workshop appeared from around an abandoned building. Mikasa calmly steered and spoke with the same easiness. "Eren...I saw her in the back. The girl Armin showed us."

"I know, I saw her too. Hopefully Jean feels up for talking," Eren replied, he then lightly stomped a foot to the ground. "Damn, millions just slid right by."

"What Ymir was saying though," Mikasa started as she parked by the entrance. "You sure you want to keep going like this?"

"We're not done until they come to us."

She shook her head as he went up to the steel door of the garage. He reached back to where he stored his gun, he undid the safety in preparation and lifted a shoe up to barge through.

Amidst the clangs and clatters of the door flying against a rack of tools, he declared,"Let's rattle the cage."

-...-

"...thanks, Ymir," Marco softly told her,"I only hope they don't come down to shooting each other."

"Drop us off, then turn back to check," she instructed. "If he pulls anything off, come grab me at the station and I'll come with guns and coin."

"You've been out of the loop for three years, he only came in two, you don't have power over him."

"After I bring the girl back, I'll probably hop in. It's been boring."

He ran a red light, uncaring for anyone that was trying to cross over. He left a semi-truck disgruntled by having him blow his horn. It didn't faze him.

"...then why, Ymir? Why leave it? You came back to Trost and yet you hadn't been here with everyone."

Ymir gazed out the window, but through the side mirror she saw the blond sitting behind her; she had been silent the entire time. "Not sure myself. Hey, weren't you part of the CIA? You're not in their circuit either, nowadays."

Marco flinched at hearing her. "I...kinda was. More of Intel really, they came to me so often that I may as well have been a part of it. Ever since that stunt you pulled off, I've been dry without them."

"And you're not raising a gun on me."

"Nah, I don't mind you. You got them off my back, real happy about that. I can breathe without some Commander or Corporal breathing down my own back. Man...shoulda stayed with computers at Mitras, I'd own my own firm by now."

The sight of the station came into view. Marco pulled over to the side of the road and parked, allowing them both to disembark. He reached into his pocket and and handed Ymir a slip of paper after she had taken her bag from the back.

"Here, do you know Connie?"

"Little bald guy who thinks he has a cock, yeah."

"Uh, he's waiting for you at the entrance. Give this to him and he'll give you the tickets."

"Sure thing." She slapped the roof of his car, signaling him to drive away. She adjusted her shirt and looked down at Krista. "You ready to go home?"

"...I never got my clothes back," she pointed out as she smiled weakly at her.

"I'll mail them to ya after this, c'mon, Blondie," Ymir entreated her as they crossed the inner road to enter the parking lot.

The station wasn't too large, it was pretty old with the building still being held together by wood. Few people were boarding the train today, as such, Ymir figured it'll be empty enough for her to get comfortable in her seat. Just as Marco said, Connie stood at the entrance with a gray pull-over. The guy looked shady as fuck, it was a sore sight that was easy to point out.

She and Krista approached him, he looked up and had his palm open for the slip of paper. Ymir handed it to him and he nodded with satisfaction.

"Tickets for two, one set from here to Karanese and then another from there to Hermiha; times are on the stubs. How you get to Mitras is your own deal, trains closed off from all four stations to the capitol now, Jean didn't say that, huh? Not surprising, military moves quick," Connie said as he pulled out their tickets.

"Nope," Ymir said as she snatched them his hands.

"Something's going on. News keeps blaring they're on the look out for some group of terrorists, with all those guns you got, I wouldn't be surprised if they come looking for you-"

"Just shut the fuck up," she snarled with a warning tone.

He shrugged and strode away. "Only letting you know."

Ymir glared at his retreating form and rolled her eyes.

"Ymir, you're pretty rude," Krista commented as she was given her set of tickets.

"Anything new?" Ymir questioned her as she headed for the doors.

"Everything is to me."

The sound of a train's horn in the distance said that their ride was closer than they expected. She glanced at her ticket to see that they arrived thirty minutes before departure; much to her dismay, they heard the wrong horn. Once security saw Ymir's face, they let her in without a hassle- Connie must have bribed them.

Ymir took her seat at one of the benches by the tracks, she settled her bag at her feet and leaned back against the seat. "Y'know, you better deliver on what you promised. Ten million. You sure you don't know what your papa's into?"

"I don't, and I'm not one to brag but when you see my house, you're going to believe I'm quite capable of paying."

"Look, Blondie, I have enough guns to fight a war if I wanted to." Krista didn't answer. Ymir undid her clip so that she could run her hands through her hair and then redo the clip. If the girl insisted she could pay up, Ymir may as well buy into her fantasy. "How big are we talking about your house?"

Krista plopped herself next to her, but she made sure she kept her distance by at least two feet. She crossed her leg over one and folded her hands over a knee, she looked relaxed yet her posture was tense.

"It's a mansion in Kingston. We have a large garden, a pool, tennis court, and even a gym; it's too much for only two people and I only live in maybe a twentieth portion of it all."

"Sounds pretty big, must be gated too."

"Walls, actually."

"And then security, you got to have those right? Why hadn't you called them and why am I escorting you?"

Krista bit her lip.

"I can't call anyone because the security we have...the security we have is the reason why you found me in the water. It took me a while to think about it, but I'm convinced it was them- they were nowhere in sight when I came home."

"Damn, so you do know those guys. You see them on the street, you'd recognize them, yeah?"

She nodded.

"There's four in total, and they work for some guy named Levi. I hardly meet him and I have no way to reach him even though he's the head of security."

Ymir scratched her chin. "No way...I wouldn't call them security if they suddenly turn on you; they don't even bother to give you contact information when you need help. I'd say they were wardens that kept you on a chain. You're free now."

"My mother isn't, I need to make sure she's alive."

"You're paying me to bring you back to your prison, funny kid," she murmured under her breath.

A horn blew in the distance. For sure it was their ride. Ymir took the bag to sling over her shoulder as she glanced up and down the station's dock. It was only them boarding their train, it was going to be a quiet ride, something she was thankful for. The weight she carried gave her reassurance.

As much as she missed the fighting, deep down, she felt a familiar tug, a dread that reminded her about the tightrope she walked upon. She stepped into the car of the train to find it void of passengers, where were they if this was the only train route available to Mitras? She glared at every seat in sight while ushering Krista to the back. The emptiness of train gave way to a voice, maybe she purchased too much from Jean.

Regardless, his words of the military spurned her to buy what he offered. The thought of seeing them sent something cold down her spine but she shook it away with a shake of her head.

They settled themselves in the back; from this spot, Ymir had a good position to watch from all directions. The exit to the left was there as well.

The jolt of the train signaled that they were departing.

"Get some sleep, I'll wake you up," Ymir stated as she leaned against the window.


	4. Chapter 4

Eren kicked over a table.

Jean was sitting in his chair. Ever since Eren knocked, he knew exactly who led himself into the dock. His second guess of Mikasa being joined by the hip of her brother was right too, he didn't have any plans to get up from his chair or arm himself; he waited for them to enter from the garage. Giving in to intimidation would give Eren satisfaction, Jean didn't want to give that, not ever.

"At first I came here to demolish your boat repairing business," Eren declared as he removed his shades; his piercing green eyes, more vibrant than the newest dollar, glanced at Ymir's boat for a second. "But now I want something else."

Mikasa stood by him, unlike him, she was unarmed. Her shoulders dropped and she avoided eye-contact with him.

"You took my money, customers, you even have that hot broad by your side. What more can you take from me?" Jean demanded roughly, unamused by Eren keeping a firm grip on the leash that tied him down to a point of where he was suffocating. Money-wise, that is, but he had a feeling he would end up like that soon.

Eren sat himself atop a steel box and fiddled with the gun in his fingers. "Information, dipshit. There's a blond girl that drove by us, long hair, blue eyes, almost angelic, where is she heading to?"

Jean shrugged. "I gave them ammunition, not my business to know where Ymir goes, definitely not mine when it's a client of hers."

"Alright, I'll ask something else. Where is Ymir going?"

He decided to start acting uninterested with Eren. He reached for a barrel and a cloth, he began to polish it while he dully asked,"Do I have to repeat myself?"

Eren clucked his tongue, he pointed to Ymir's wooden ketch. "Mikasa, load those C4s into the boat."

"Eren, you don't know who you're dealing with," Jean warned him, he was still vigorously cleaning the grime off.

Mikasa still hadn't moved, she caught on to Jean's plead; he was glad that she was the one with the sensible mind. The gun between Eren's fingers rested comfortably in his palm as he inquired,"Is this a customer?"

"No, that's Ymir's boat. You blow that to high heaven, you're gonna have hell to pay."

"All the more better to bring her back."

It wouldn't work. Ymir never carried communication devices unless a job required such. For over three years during his drifting after the incident, Ymir was no longer on the grid. He had no way to reach her, hence his inability to extract a punch to the jaw in reparation for a botched job. He doubted she'd carry a cell phone now.

If she came back, Jean would have to deal with her. She may even cut him out of the deal- no, she will cut him out of the deal. "Fine...she's on her way to Mitras."

"And what's at Mitras?"

"...Ymir said something about taking her home."

"Good, that wasn't so hard now was it?"

Eren stood up and began to exit, he was true to Ymir as he didn't harm the arms dealer. Jean would have sighed in relief but his breath was caught and held prisoner in his throat by Eren's simple order,"Blow it up."

"Eren..." Mikasa protested.

"Just do it."

"God, you're a fucking idiot!" Jean exclaimed, he had enough of it. He slammed down the barrel, prompting Eren to aim his gun directly at him.

"Ah-ah. Sit."

Hesitating to sit down, Jean managed to do so. Mikasa immediately left to fetch the explosives, he knew she was scared for him. At least, he convinced himself as such. He covered his face within his hands as he leaned against the table. Ymir was going to come back. She wasn't going to be happy about this, now it was his turn to live in worry.

"Had you...ever met that girl?" Eren inquired as he continued to threaten him.

"Krista? Just your average girl, nothing special," Jean huffed.

"Her father, as you ought to know, is Lod Reiss of the Reiss Corporation."

Jean's frowned deepened.

Everyone knew that name. Reiss was the owner of the largest defense company in the country, he had an unlimited access and production to the latest weapons with the government as his purse- whatever he developed, the government bought. With the money garnered from government expenditures, though few knew of this since it's often overlooked, Reiss became an industrial tyrant by investing and buying other companies.

In the end, he controlled everything in their economy and, to a great extent, politics. His influence rarely stretched to the underworld as he had his assets fulfilled by legal means. However, who's to say he gained his stature alone? There was an apparent rumor he mingled with ex-militants who were turned loose to the other side of the tracks since the start of the Marian Wars.

His power increased with the demand of his services, no one would argue that there was no other powerful man in the country.

Mikasa returned with four C4s, all of these were strategically settled in Ymir's boat. As she was untying the ropes that held it to the dock, Jean resisted to protest against her.

"...you've really lost it," Jean uttered as he forced his attention back to Eren. "I've done things in my life that don't make me a good person but holding people hostage, Reiss's daughter for God's sake!"

"You can't hope to change anything if you can't give up a bit of your morality," Eren said, shrugging. "Armin's said that before, I'd say it's gotten us pretty far."

-...-

She woke up with a gasp when the train went over a small bump that shook the entire cabin.

Her blood ran cold through her body, it was a sickening feeling that she thought was long lost under the ocean of the Marian Sea. Damn, she dozed off.

She rubbed a temple with her free hand as the other arm was preoccupied by a warm weight. She glanced to her left to see Krista's blond head leaning against her shoulder, sleeping peacefully as though they were just two ordinary women on a train ride. Her quietness was a new sight for Ymir, it was cute until she noticed the purple bruise on the side of her head.

Looking outside, the familiar waters she considered home were gone and replaced by trees and the occasional houses that dotted the countryside- three years and the sights were still the same. They were passing through a town that had no station to stop at; she glanced at her watch to see an hour had passed.

The cabin was still empty, she felt safer knowing it was just them but she knew better than to let her guard down. Paranoia settled in, and the dread she felt from earlier kept her awake.

Eventually the intercom spoke,"Arriving at Karenese Station, prepare to disembark in ten minutes. Children must be accompanied at all times..." and continued to relay the guidelines.

Ymir gently shook Krista. "Wake up, Blondie, we're gonna get there."

"Uh? Oh!" Krista peeled herself away from Ymir's side. "Sorry."

"Nah, it's fine, you're paying me," she coolly replied.

"...that's right," she heard Krista murmur.

Morality. Maybe Marco was talking to her about morality earlier. She shrugged and stretched back with her arms in the air. Another two hours and then they'll be arriving at the Karanese. She thought for a moment of how they would reach Mitras, there were no rides she could hitch or think of; oh well, make it up as one goes along had always kept her alive.

She got to her feet with Krista closely shadowing her; she slung the bag over her shoulder. They disembarked the train to find the station's dock to be full of people, an entire ocean of people. Ymir nearly dropped her jaw as she reached for Krista's hand, she didn't want to lose her money in this mess.

"Ah!" Krista gasped, she wasn't expecting it.

As she felt the warmth of her smaller hand, Ymir reassured her,"Just don't wanna lose you."

"Don't grip so tightly at least!"

She didn't even realize she was doing so. She glanced down at her, almost apologized, but instead settled for loosening her grip. The great crowd bustled about as though the occurrence of the military setting up check-points never happened. As she passed people, she caught glimpses of ticket stubs that indicated that they arrived from Stohess as and were heading for Trost.

After pushing through the crowd, they arrived at the specific platform and rested at a small cafe; the next train would arrive in half an hour. They ordered a few lattes and settled themselves at high stools by the television set that hung on the wall.

"The further we go, the more unnecessary your guns seem to be," Krista commented.

Ymir sipped at her drink as her eyes paid close attention to the screen. "Uh-huh."

 _'War wages on in Shiganshina though the Prime Minister withdrew a number of troops to bring support back home. Over several thousand had returned to patrol check-points.'_ The anchor proceeded to explain what to do when encountering such check-points. _'...do not resist- oh, this just in.'_ He rustled through several papers that were handed to him. _'The military created a blockade, preventing anyone from entering Hermiha. More will be set up in the rest of the surrounding cities in Sina county. Citizens, as stated last night, are advised to remain home.'_

"...remain home?" Ymir asked.

Krista tilted her head to the side. "Hm?"

"It's like half the population of Stohess is at this station," Ymir pointed out,"none of these people seem geared to stay home."

_'...Reiss Company is funding the operation...'_

Ymir tuned out the rest of the news as she leaned back.

Her eyes examined the crowd. Men, women, children, some of them were in sleeping clothes as though they had little time to decide what to pack, let alone wear, as they began to flee their homes. Anxiety was the common stench in the air. She had arrived from Trost, things were calm there as war hadn't been dragged towards home. Something else entirely was shifting within their sanctuary.

"Krista, I never paid much attention to the news," Ymir admitted. "They're still fighting over in the Maria?"

The blond tore her eyes away from the screen as the image of the CEO of Reiss Company was conveyed as he was doing a press conference. She was biting her lip, she ceased that as she answered,"Yeah, still. With all the firepower the Reiss Company has, they still hadn't brought it all out. I dunno...it's like they're drawing the war out longer."

"War makes profit," Ymir quoted. "As long as the demand for weapons comes up, the more money any business can make."

"...Trost is the closest port to the war, at least distance wise. Had anything happened there?"

"If it had, it'd be on the news. From my time being there, not once had I seen the flag being waved by the military. No one docks there, strangely, it's just everyone that left Shiganshina that reside there. Honestly, I've gotten tired of the stench of it all." She rubbed her nose. "It's like they don't want to touch the people residing there."

Three years ago, Shiganshina was another port, a large city, that rested on the coast of the Maria Sea. It was, previously, under the control and protection of the country but it was, by priority, terrorized first by the enemy nation across the ocean. Both countries were locked in a war seven years prior and when the valuable resource of oil was discovered by Shiganshina's borders, the battle was brought closer over the preservation of the reserve.

The city was immediately bombarded and, in the process of numerous air strikes, said oil reserves were destroyed. The country retaliated for the lives of the innocent loss and the even greater loss of oil- however, Shiganshina was left beyond repair or reconquest; over in that city, a blazing battlefield resided.

Ymir gripped her coffee to a point of where her hand began to shake. She breathed deeply, thoughts that were long lost in the Marian Sea were resurfacing once more.

"Ymir, your drink," Krista said to her, concerned.

The cup was shaken enough to where drops of hot liquid landed on her skin. Ymir immediately switched the cup to the other hand and wiped the back of her wet one against her thigh. The blinking board at the other side of the way showed that their train was approaching.

"Let's get going," Ymir told her, not offering any explanation. Krista nodded and got out of her seat. Just as Ymir started walking, she felt a tug on her sleeve. "Huh?"

"Over there," Krista said, hushed, as she pointed to the benches about thirty feet away. She pulled Ymir to hide behind a brick pillar. Ymir craned her neck low to listen to her. She pointed once more and so Ymir peered around the corner. "Do you see those two in black? They're standing by the trash cans."

Ymir let her worries roll off of her shoulder as she found the people Krista was indicating. A man, as she remembered as the "Auruo" from the dock, was accompanying another woman this time; she was blond but her hair was darker and less appealing than Krista's. Both were sketchy as the wore black trench coats, they looked like they were scoping out the place.

"Auruo Bossard and Petra Ral," Krista explained as she leaned against the wall. "Normally they're together."

"They weren't together last night," Ymir huffed as she took her place by her. "He was with a tall man, blond."

"That might be Erd Gin."

"And the fourth?"

"Gunther Shultz. They're the security guards but from what Petra told me, they were veterans from the Marian Wars. Once they finished service, they settled for working in their current occupation."

Ymir grimaced. "Just war dogs then, they may only be as useful as brute force. But...how the fuck did they got here is what I wanna know."

"It's weird, they're always not far from me, I had to get used to knowing they're just around the corner sometimes."

The train that they were supposed to board came rolling in. Ymir took Krista's hand once again and weaved through the crowd, effectively blending in to avoid the two guards that were on the search for the girl. They utilized the population and managed to squeeze through the doors to enter the cabin of their last train to Stohess. Ymir ushered her, once again, to the back and settled herself at the window.

Petra and Auruo were still outside, oblivious to Ymir.

"Other than them, you got anyone you know? Friends?"

Krista shook her head as the train was being emptied of passengers. "Not really. Petra is the only other woman I talk to beside my mother...and then I have a doctor."

"Doctor?"

"Yeah, she sees me often, at least once a week."

"Are you sick or something?"

"Um, sort of, I was born with a weak heart so she was assigned by my father to monitor my condition. I've been living well most of my life though."

"If you have a doctor, why don't you call her?"

Krista sat and sank in her seat and lowly told her,"I don't have contact with her either."

The people Krista knew, they weren't the type to trust. How long she had lived like this was unknown to her, but without a doubt she had been lied to throughout her entire life. It wasn't in Ymir's nature to prod through her client's past or emotional shit, but curiosity of wanting to know what and who she was dealing with got the best of her. The small pint of pity she leaked from her heart earlier grew.

"...did you ever think that they were using you for something?" Ymir asked her, though it was senseless to do so.

Krista let out a gasp and tried to stifle down something.

"I'd rather not say...I just want to find my mother and be off without them," Krista said. "...is...is there a bathroom?"

The train had began to depart from the station. Unlike earlier, the cabin had at least a dozen people, all of which were a safe distance away from them. Ymir nodded to the left, the small washroom on the train was open. Krista got up and headed for it instantly, she bolted the door as though all of her emotions sparked by realization had got the best of her.

With a defining smack of the small sliding door hitting the threshold, Ymir sighed and rubbed her head.

She didn't want to know what was going on. The sooner she delivered Krista home, the sooner she can receive her prize and leave to return to her lazy life. Well, the lazy life was boring her, she remembered why she agreed to do this job. Regardless, she wanted to return to the life she once had before Trost.


	5. Chapter 5

It was apparent that Krista was never going to leave that bathroom.

An hour and a quarter passed, Ymir decided to check on her. While doing so, she brought the bag of guns with her for security. From her side, she could hear the girl crying with gasps and whimpers, the running water masked most of it but she could hear it. She gently knocked on it.

"Hey, it's me," Ymir said, trying to coax her into opening the door at the very least. "You alright?"

That was stupid to ask. Of course she wasn't. No shit. Ymir kicked herself in the head, mentally, and leaned against a wall by the door.

"...look, being used, it happens," Ymir started. "You're going to go through life, you're going to be used by people at one point, and you're going to get hurt. I won't call you stupid, you were raised as whatever they wanted you to be. It was all you've known, huh? You lived a nice comfy life up in Kingston, you had the money and home, you got a mother to boot- even if you were being kept on chains there, I'd still say you had it better than me. No lies, I envy those on the upstate side."

Bitterness started to boil in her. As she closed her eyes, she could smell the stench of the sewers, the filth she was born in and raised. Her lips curled at such thoughts and her manner of entreating the girl to open the door was thrown out the window faster than her boat can cover ten knots.

"...and I fucking hated them as much as I envied them."

Krista opened the door forcefully, startling Ymir and causing her to leap to the side to avoid her. Before she recollected, Krista snapped at her,"It happens. Happens, you're using me to get to money..."

"I'm don't wanna break it to you...that's just how it is."

"Then how did you have it?" Krista challenged her in a whimper.

Ymir stepped forth, Krista stepped back.

There was enough room for the two of them to fit. Ymir settled the guns by door after she closed it behind her. She sat against the sink as Krista continued to back off until she was in the corner. She didn't like the subject at hand, it was something she hadn't opened up in a long time.

The thoughts of her childhood were locked away in a box, deep within her mind.

By now she thought she had forgotten about it all but, as the girl questioned her, she had the urge to speak up. She was staring down at the very thing she loathed before. Before her stood a girl who had the life she always wanted; a home, a family, food on the table, and life. Now when the very thing that teased her since childhood was standing before her in corporeal form, she suddenly lost it.

"When I was younger than you, what I've been doing is what I've known all my life-"

"What? Sitting in a wooden boat every day with guns for days while you pleasure yourself with pornography?"

Ymir glared at her.

"I've seen your subscriptions!"

She advanced upon her, her hand landed by her head as she caged her in the corner- she wasn't pleased with her assumption. She could smell the sea off of her hair, she could count the tears hanging off of her lashes, she could see the pain of betrayal in her eyes.

Behind a snarl, she growled,"You don't want to know- don't even ask. You're paying me to be your bodyguard, not your goddamn therapist. Sorry for bringing this whole revelation to you, but I only came here to see if there's any change in destination or circumstances to our deal. Do I still get the money?"

Krista's lips quivered. "I..if I have to pay you to trust you won't do anything to me-"

"And I hadn't."

"-then I can't trust anyone."

Ymir sighed and eased her glare, she finally reached the conclusion- a creed Ymir followed. It was easy to relate to her on that level. The anger she felt seeped away and she relaxed. She sidled back to the sink and folded her arms over her chest.

"You can't. Don't ever do it," Ymir advised her coldly. "When this is over, don't trust anyone."

"...how..." Ymir glanced at her, silently telling her to ask. "...how can you think it's normal?"

"Which?"

"Saying being used- 'it just happens'...those things."

Ymir shrugged. "It's just how it is. It is it. That is it. Nothing more to it. The sooner you accept it as it is, you can have an easier time in life."

"So everything happens...it's just how it is."

"...exactly," Ymir agreed staunchly.

A knock on the door came from a passenger that needed to use the loo. The knock startled the girl, Ymir rolled her eyes and spoke loudly,"Wait a moment, would ya?" She lowered her voice for Krista. "C'mon, people gotta shit."

Krista nodded and they departed the bathroom to have an old man push by them to use it. They settled back onto their seats. Oddly, in the row in front of them, a head of blond had situated itself there. Ymir didn't recall seeing the young man earlier but kept quiet, she was she to keep an eye on him; paranoia set in and she bit at her lip.

"You want water to drink?" Ymir asked her.

Krista sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Yeah, nothing cold though."

"Dental problem too," Ymir muttered as she waved down a woman with a trolly full of commodities. She rolled the cart by them and accordingly gave them a plastic cup of water. Krista drank it quickly and breathed deeply, she was starting to relax now, which was good.

Just as they were about to sit in silence, Krista broke it,"...I need to tell you something."

"With all these confessions coming out, you really suck as a liar," Ymir sneered, displeased. At least the girl was starting to open up, anything she said other than the emotional bullshit would help Ymir know what she was dealing with. "What is it?"

"I never...met my dad, but I know his name."

"Alright, shoot."

"Lod Reiss," she said.

Ymir felt the color drain from her face. Lod Reiss. Reiss. Reiss Company. Military company. Every known weapon to mankind was produced by them.

_'Shit.'_

She laughed it off nervously,"Bullshit. You look more like a Pixis girl if you were anyone rich-"

"I'm serious."

"Oh sweet Jesus," Ymir groaned as she rubbed her eyes,"give me a fucking raise or I go. I don't want to be anywhere near you if this job goes sideways."

Never in her life had she wanted to drop a job in the middle of it. Ymir was skilled, she had power, and she had the guts; she just wasn't stupid or greedy enough for doing this job for ten million. Earlier she joked about Krista's guards being war dogs, it dawned on her that they could be more. Hell, they could be the special forces or something even worse.

No matter how many guns Jean armed her with, it would never be enough to fight the Reiss Company. Ymir was tempted to get up until she felt her tug at her sleeve.

"I knew you'd say something like that...I'll give you everything you want, as long as you stay with me."

"Krista," Ymir protested, but then the look on the girl got to her. She was pleading for her to stay.

"The only kindness anyone ever shown me was you pulling me out of the water..."

Ymir stared at her once more. Something about her, despite their differing social statues and her birth, got to her, it was tethering her to the girl and second thoughts got to her. If she left, this girl would fall victim to anyone who knew of her- an innocent thing lost forever. Even as she stood up, she was hesitating to leave. Why did she pull her out of the water?

Why?

Why is she giving a damn now?

Then an entirely different thought rolled off of her tongue to be her excuse.

"Damn it...you're lucky you're cute," Ymir muttered. She plopped herself back onto the seat- she swore there was a feint blush on the girl's cheek.

"Looks save lives, I guess," Krista sighed, relieved. "You won't leave me, right?"

"...I'm signing a fucking death sentence just breathing the same air as you."

"It happens."

Ymir raised a brow. "Hm...you're picking up on it."

"You're a poor influence."

"She really is," a voice came up from the front of them.

"Excuse me, dipshit, this was a pretty private conversation," Ymir snarled. She had nearly forgotten about the individual in front of them. Without a doubt, he was listening to them. How much he knew alarmed her.

The blond head turned and stood up, he circled around and stood in front of them. His clean attire of a white dress shirt and blue tie was enough to remind Ymir that he dressed similarly to that guy Yaeger and his sister. He was just about Krista's height. It took a moment to recognize him, and then it hit her.

Armin Arlert.

From what she could recall, he was one of the country's best hackers; his genius work in computers was well known among those on the other side of the tracks. He was, by all means, an advanced counterpart to Marco- while Marco provided information, Armin had access to all information. He knew everything of everyone. He was a free-lance man, he took up jobs as well, Ymir had met him through several times during a couple heists a few years back.

His base of operation was in Stohess. What was he doing here?

"Fancy meeting you here. Long time, huh, Ymir?" Armin said smoothly with a smile.

"Yeah, long time," she replied curtly.

"Would you two ladies care to go to the dining car?" He asked. "I'd love to catch up with Ymir."

Ymir debated on it. While he was a free-lance man, he was just as much as a loose canon. He took jobs from anyone but she knew little of who he affiliated himself with.

"Well?"

Ymir grimaced.

"I'll pay, it's on me," he said.

"Armin," she warned sharply.

Armin sighed. "Alright. Anyway, a little pony gave me a message on the express. Military's moved on to Stohess and set up a check-point, though it's quickly turning into a blockade as we speak. I can get you to Mitras though."

"Jean sent you," Ymir said approvingly,"not bad."

"Yup. Got my car at the station, we'll just drive the rest of the way."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Glad you can be of help."

"Sorry for just popping in like this," he said as though he read her mind. "Don't be scared, I'm the one who booked your tickets."

"I'm not afraid of anything," she scoffed.

He sat to Ymir's left as their row contained three seats.

"Oh, if you see the world from how I do, you better be," Armin chuckled as he crossed one leg over the other.

"Pray tell," she challenged him.

"There's a new weapon that Reiss Company is developing. One in which all men will fear when it's released in Shiganshina," he began,"by reports, it's said to be lethal to not only our enemies but to the users as well."

"Nuclear? Last I heard, the Scouts were obsessing over it."

"Nah, we'll end up blowing ourselves off the face of the earth. Also, the Scouts were disbanded, didn't you know?"

"Again, last I heard."

Armin brought his left arm up to reveal his wrist to trace the veins. "This new weapon is injected up the veins and spreads throughout the body, but mostly it affects the neurological pathways. If you may, it's a biological weapon meant to turn men into monsters; users have been reported to show superhuman strength, enhanced speed, and, quite amusingly, increased libido."

Ymir spluttered. "Ok, was the last part even necessary?"

"Hey, science does things to you."

He laughed jokingly as she glared at him. He rolled down his sleeves as he pointed to his veins.

"Besides, I was checking to see if you were paying attention. I meant to say that there is resistance to pain, it becomes nothing. The entire project is being spearheaded by a doctor from the Reiss Company but, judging by her e-mails and calls (the woman has very poor security in those areas), she's associated with the Scouts."

The Scouts were the most elite forces employed by the Reiss Company. Trained with enough power to fight the next world war, they were hardened soldiers with an insane amount of combat experience; their tactics were brutal, efficient, and swift. On the front lines, they were the fiercest men and women the world had ever laid eyes on.

Ymir knew them from first hand, she shuddered at the thought of them and the sign they bore upon their chests- the hypocritical Wings of Freedom. She clenched her fists as she spoke behind gritted teeth,"Scouts...you say they're disbanded, what are they now?"

"A mafia really."

She barked out a laugh, pleased at their sorry state. "That's what became of them? They became trash? So much for being the pride of humanity."

"Actually, it began a year after you disappeared. Due to the advancements in technology, the Scouts were deemed obsolete and were subsequently discharged. 'How much power is in this weapon?' is what I wonder every day. You could imagine the anger their Commander has at the moment. So far, his activities are alarming but the government hadn't done anything to stop him- they're terrified of him until they could release the weapon."

The government had a right to be scared of Commander Erwin Smith. Other than Lod Reiss, Smith was a dangerous man in his own right.

Armn continued on.

"They're currently monopolizing Trost for income, Lord knows what they're up to- then again, I'm God over the internet."

She rolled her eyes at his entitlement.

"You hadn't been in action as of late, it's Eren Yaeger and Mikasa Ackerman who have been given control over the port. He's pretty ruthless, is he not?"

Ymir grimaced at the thought of him. "An asshole, really."

Krista suddenly pipped up. "A-about the weapon, you said it turns men into monsters..."

"Oh! That's the side-effect to it. The consequence to it...is that men lose their minds, they go completely ballistic and, quite sadly, cannibalistic. Attempts to control the dosage and manipulate the chemistry within the serum have failed miserably...as you have heard, the military has been called in recently- this is a result from the failures. It's been in development for nearly two decades but only now they have begun human trials."

Ymir stared at the floor for a moment, though she noticed Krista scratching at her left forearm as though it were a nervous tick.

"Why create something that can't be reversed? It's useless if you win a war but then your own weapon turns against you," Ymir said.

Armin shook his head, disappointed. "The weapon originated from a virus- those injected with it are given steroids too to give the maximum power. The doctor who created it is barking mad, insane; I'm surprised she hadn't been discharged for her recklessness but brilliance always comes at a price. As the users are turned into cannibals, they seek out other humans and the virus is passed on to those who survive attacks. Steroids aren't given to the infected as they aren't controlled in designated facilities- they simply become cannibals without the superhuman boost."

"All you have are zombies then."

"Exactly...however, there is one project the doctor has been working on since the beginning."

"Oh?"

"This individual has been injected with the virus but, with careful dosages and experimentation, it has been able to live peacefully without signs of aggression. It basically is immune to the virus. While it has not undergone mental instability, its value of Immunity is precious. Just figuring out how to transfer that Immunity to all users of the virus will make the military invincible."

Ymir stared down at him. His eyes held something she didn't like. It disturbed her as he knew more than what he had given.

"You hadn't been using names, Armin," she slowly pointed out.

"Information is confidential-"

"Bullshit, you have access to all information."

"You're right," he said. His right hand traveled to her left arm and, from a shine from his wrist, she saw a needle slip from his sleeve. "I know too much."

"Ay-"

Before she could reach for her Beretta, he stuck the needle deep into her and injected God knows what into her.

She panicked at the sting.

He had an extensive amount of ways to get knowledge, who's to say he didn't have any connections to materials? Did he fucking just give her the virus he just discussed? She managed to undo the button of one holster and she took a gun to her hand.

The familiar weight of the gun was lifted as he had slipped it out of her grasp.

In the distance, she heard Krista's terror stricken gasp of,"Ymir!"

She tried reach for his neck to end mankind's damnable prodigy but her eyes grew heavier by the second. If she died now, she definitely knew who to haunt in the afterlife. Her movements quickly became sluggish, as did her mind, as the darkness overcame her and took over.

"F...fuh- fuck..."


	6. Chapter 6

She was left in that room for hours on end, crying, unknowing of what to do, oblivious as to what had occurred. She cried out God's name despite Him not even knowing where she was. Eventually, the doors opened and more men came into the room.

Her hands were fettered with handcuffs, underneath was red skin that bled from struggling to remove them. The world was so much bigger than her, and the men that came day in and day out here giants to her. Settling in the corner of her cage was for nothing as she was pulled away from the bars to be beaten into submission. Just as the men surrounded her, the world began to rumble and shake.

Everything blurred and spun. She was feeling sick and she wanted to vomit, but then she opened her eyes.

The darkness was gone, the road before her was moving by their car quickly. She shook her head and tried to recollect herself, she was sitting in the back seat behind the driver. The blinding light of the setting sun told her a great time had passed; the small clock on the dash flashed 6:00 PM.

In the passenger side she saw Krista sitting silent with her hands folded in her lap.

"Nnngh," she groaned, the weight of her guns were gone.

"Only a minute away, good timing for you to wake up. We're back at Karanese," Armin's voice remembered the bastard sitting next to her and injecting whatever the fuck he was giving her.

Anger coursed through her and she tried to raise her hands, she found both of them to be handcuffed to the door. Her breath hitched and panic rose, her heartbeat thundered more than the storms in sea- she felt like that helpless kid again. No, not again.

"Hey, get this _shit_ off me," Ymir hissed as she began to yank on the chains. "Armin...ARMIN!"

"Not a chance-"

"THIS _ISN'T_ FUCKING FUNNY!" She snapped harshly, teeth baring.

"Just stay calm, I wasn't laughing-"

"ARMIN!"

She fought against the cuffs again.

"Armin, you really should let her go..."

"What did I just tell you?"

"...but she's scared."

Armin chuckled as Ymir began to whine like a dog.

"Ymir being scared...never thought I'd live to see the day."

For the first time in years, tears were starting to form in the corner of her turned around. She had reached a limit that was once a great distance away. The fear that overcame her brought her to begin pitching her breath for gasps. Her vision blurred and she lost sight of the world in her frenzy.

"Ymir."

She was ignoring her.

"Ymir."

Krista had to unbuckle her seat belt and reach back to touch her shoulder. Her touch pulled Ymir back to whatever sense she could grasp on; her voice was clear in the chaos.

"You work for me, still. I order you to not attack Armin, in return, he'll let me remove those."

Ymir halted abruptly- such a feeble deal was a chance she was willing to take. Slowly, she nodded. Hushed voices came from the blonds in front, then she became immediately relieved when Armin hesitantly handed Krista the small keys.

Her hands were too far for Krista to reach. She had to climb into the back seat, she had little problem with that, given her small stature. As she crawled to sit next to Ymir, she leaned over her lap and unlocked the handcuffs. Once free, she rubbed both of her wrists and regained the calm mind she had. She glanced over at Krista and grimaced.

"You're crying," Krista said softly.

Ymir's lips curled, she still held the cuffs. She was ready to strangle Armin but Krista immediately took a hold of her hands.

"I'm paying you not to hurt him," she reminded her.

"...little fucker," Ymir spat at him, she glared at Krista and dropped the cuffs to the floor. The blond still held her hands, gentle as they were. She let go of them and reached back to take a hold of Ymir's jacket as it had been removed earlier with her guns. With the greatest care, she slowly brought the cloth to Ymir's face. Ymir shirked. "The fuck are you doing?"

She didn't answer. She only stopped, and when Ymir didn't protest anymore, she took a moment to wipe her face clean.

Having another person touch her this way was strange, even when she finished, Krista still cradled Ymir's cheek with one hand. Ymir's eyes drifted away to the left to avoid eye contact, it was too foreign for her to process. Sure, she appreciated girls but she never took the time to see all of the details and take them in. By details, it was the empathy.

"We're here," Armin announced, causing the serenity Ymir felt to shatter; the anger returned and she shrugged off Krista's hands.

He stopped the car and got out, Ymir instantly got out and, despite Krista's cries of protests, she charged for Armin. Her anger overtaking her once more. Just as she was about to reach for his neck for the second time, the bark of a man reached her ears.

"STAND **DOWN**!"

Ymir snarled in the base of her throat and turned to see the her the source of the voice.

By her waist, she felt Krista getting out of the car.

They were in a parking lot surrounded by office buildings that were under construction. Rafters lined several of the unfinished works, numerous fences covered by green tarps surrounded most of the exits, and storage containers were placed nearby. The only differing sights were those of black cars very much similar to the one she had seen last night at the docks.

_'Not good.'_

Armin rushed back into the car and drove away, leaving them out in the open.

Elsewhere, she saw a man that was short, he stood shorter than Armin. Clad nicely in a black suit, he was too prim and proper for Ymir's tastes- his white cravat sat upon his chest, reminding her of a penguin for some reason. Under his weary eyes that glared at her were black circles, something she was familiar with.

Outside of the cars were other men who were dressed similarly to him, though they wore ties. Each man held an assault rifle, AK-47s, by the looks of them.

Krista stayed behind her but she peered to see the short man. "It's Levi..."

"Your head of security?" Ymir asked her.

"Yeah, it's him."

The man nodded, a signal, but for what?

As she looked around, she saw that Armin was parking his car by another one, a different one, it was the same one form that morning; the owners were standing outside, they were approaching Levi. That kid Eren and Mikasa- Armin's voice echoed within her mind, Eren was a part of that mafia that was composed of Scouts. Just seeing him confirmed that they were surrounded by those elites.

Ymir instinctively reached for a gun, but they were taken away.

"F-fuck," Ymir stammered, though she tried to keep a stoic face. "Krista, did you know of this?"

The girl was silent.

"Krista!" Ymir hissed as she trained her eyes on Levi; he was having an exchange of words with the two siblings. "These are men that are going to rip us to shreds. I don't care if Levi was your top bodyguard, but who he's with, it's the fucking Scouts. The _Scouts_ , Krista."

"I swear, I didn't know!" Krista burst out.

"Please tell me you're lying, just say it now."

"I'm not! Trust me!"

"Krista..."

The blond took a hold of Ymir's hand, it was a silent plead to believe her. Despite all logic, Ymir forced herself to believe her. Eren nodded to Levi and approached the two. He stopped about five feet away from her.

Eren spread his arms about. "Remember how you warned me? Something about knocking on metal and getting popped? Had you ever thought why people don't try to do that?"

"Don't matter, syndicates can always get replacements if they lose one. You're still just a kid hiding behind names- is that your boss-man there?"

She nodded to Levi.

"Definitely, definitely. Lance Corporal Levi, mankind's strongest soldier- now he's just an Underboss but believe me, he's still got the Corporal in him." Eren's cocky air angered her, she wanted to punch him in the balls. Hard. Until he could only piss blood. "Whoever you were, it's nothing now compared to us. Now, give us the girl and we'll let you go. Or, if you don't, we'll kill you, and we still get the girl."

Krista's hand clutched Ymir tightly.

Regardless, she had a feeling they would kill her either way.

"She's not much of a whore material," Ymir snidely told him.

"Nope, but what's in her is precious," Eren started.

"...eh? Virginity?"

"Not even close."

"Eren, you're taking too long," Levi spoke out, displeased with the time being wasted.

Eren sighed,"Alright, make your choice, lady."

Ymir looked down at Krista.

"Ymir, they...might try to kill me," she uttered, she was scared witless now. "I know it's not much, but don't let them do it to me."

She had to pity her deeply at this point.

She had to think, quickly.

There was that one thing she had, the one thing she tried to hide away. If there was anything she knew of the military, it was that signatures printed upon objects or other people had posed some importance to them at one point. Ymir took a step forth, facing Levi completely- with her free hand she reached the edge of her tank top to lift it high enough to stop just right under her bra.

_'This better fucking work...'_

Levi's eyes showed some signs of surprise and he waved down the men to lower their guns.

He approached her, glaring. When he came close enough, she lowered her shirt and locked eyes with him.

"...what regiment did you serve?"

"I was in the 104th," Ymir lied,"they all died."

"Well then, I'm sorry for the loss." He slapped Eren at the back of his head. "Show some respect for a fellow soldier."

"Sir!" Eren yelped.

Levi spoke with indifference. "An even greater apology for having you go through this, we're just desperate to get a hold of that girl there. Now, as much as we operate as criminals, we're still soldiers in our own right- any who were among our ranks before are considered one of our own. Would you be willing to come with us?"

Ymir internally sighed in relief as she responded accordingly,"Of course."

She followed him as she led Krista along with her. The girl's grip was still tight, she was crowding her, obviously scared.

"Will she die?" Ymir inquired as they neared the limo.

"Why kill our hope?" Levi asked her.

All around her, the men clad in suits withdrew from their positions to get into their own vehicles. Eren himself retreated to where his sister and Armin were and had vanished from the scene as Ymir was ushered into the limo. Krista still clung to her hand, both were equally apprehensive of what would happen next. Levi sat apposite of them and called to the driver,"Get us back to headquarters."

As much as the accursed mark haunted Ymir, it ironically became of use to save her life.

Ymir had to play with words for now, her deception was what kept her alive and even got her to be with the girl- her quick mind of creating false identities came into play with the few information she had accumulated within the day.

"So she says you were head of security," Ymir started as they began to drive.

"Indeed, though it was to only keep tabs on Krista for the Scouts. Luckily, Reiss Co. let it slide that I have associations with Smith."

"Then those other guards, what are they to you?"

"Not my men and woman anymore," he said. "They work for Reiss rather than myself so any orders taken from the higher ranked are immediately followed over my own." He addressed Krista. "About what happened, it wasn't supposed to but it let us play our cards right to get you-"

"My mother," she spluttered as she had been holding it in for too long. "W...where is she?"

Levi's lips twitched. "..."

"My mother, Corporal, where?"

"Dead. She resisted the Company and was killed instantly," he said as though he were talking about the weather.

It was as though the world crashed around her. Ymir couldn't look at her as she fixated her gaze at him, as Krista had her hand in a vice grip, she felt obligated to ask.

"...why is she being put through this?" Ymir asked him crossly.

"Nearly two decades ago, Operation Deliverance was established as a safeguard in any event that the enemy should take over a city of ours; in this case, Shiganshina. A doctor by the name of Grisha Yaeger developed it, and when his research was about to achieve success at the height of the hour a few years back, he disappeared. No one knows where he went when the enemy attacked, but he left insurance should his weapon go out of control. That insurance is Krista."

"Insurance...as in?"

"The cure. Specimen 104, Project Hirstoria. She was the only infant at hand when he started his studies, with the consent of Lod Reiss, he injected her with H-Virus in controlled amounts until she could withstand him for testing. With the built up Immunity she gained, she is the only hope we have of getting out of this mess."

Krista 's hand loosened from Ymir, she began to curl up in her seat.

"Two days ago, a dozen specimens that are infected where let free. It was...an accident but it was enough to rattle the Reiss Co. to bring their forces back."

"Wait, you have a bunch of infected freaks running around and you're telling me Reiss didn't do it?"

Levi's eyes gleamed with something sinister. Ymir's blood ran cold, the Scouts were pissed at being replaced but she couldn't believe that they were this pissed.

"Hanji Zoe is the head researcher for this, she was the replacement after Yaeger left. Luckily, she's on our side but certain measures wouldn't allow us to get our hands on Krista sooner. So, she was the one who released the infected; in the chaos, she ordered the guards to dispose of the girl. We were supposed to pick up the body in Trost but, finding it missing, we had to call in Yaeger to look around-"

"M...my doctor," Krista muttered out of nowhere. "Hanji..."

"Records say you were born with a heart defect- those are false."

Levi reached to her, she flinched but his grip on her left forearm was strong; it took Ymir every fiber in her being to maintain control. He suddenly rolled up her sleeve to reveal the scars of punctures caused by injections over the years.

"She's been studying your reactions to the virus, and so far, you hadn't changed."

Levi released her and reclined in his chair and pulled out a cigarette, Ymir eyed it as he lit it. Krista, once again, curled up in her seat.

"Now, my turn to ask. How'd you come across her?"

"As you know, she's still alive. I found her in the water and took her in, next day she was paying me to bring her back to Mitras."

"I'm willing to pay compensation for your time on this," he offered. "How much did she say?"

There was a pause between them. A few streetlights later, she finally answered, she was going to regret this later.

"Anything, but no matter what you offer me...she still owes me," Ymir firmly told him.

He raised a brow.

"For pulling her out of the water, she owes me for that and only she can pay that off."

"Hm...your name is Ymir, isn't it?"

"That's right."

Another moment of silence. The cigarette he smoke was halfway gone, he had been using it quickly.

"When we get back to headquarters, I'll discuss the terms of what I can do for you."

-...-

The convoy came to an eventual stop in the high end part of the city where the buildings were skyscrapers and the streets were filled to the brim with people. At one building, they parked underneath the roof of a fancy looking valet line. Ymir didn't catch the name, but for once in her life, she was entering an expensive place.

First Levi stepped out, then Ymir, and finally Krista. Already, waiting at the doors, were the three from earlier, they were observing them closely, exchanging with one another various whispers and glances.

She glared daggers at Armin, but she restrained herself from lashing out at him as Krista had taken a hold of her hand again. The three of them walked inside and turned a corner.

"Come, I need to report to the Commander about you," Levi directed at Krista, the two women trailed after him as a man in a suit was prompted to escort them into the building.

Inside the grand hotel, guests and civilians walked about as though the Scouts never occupied it and called it home. However, the men in suits, all of which did not carry rifles, were armed as Ymir noticed the holster on one of them as he adjusted his coat. She kept up to Levi and asked,"I was forcibly brought here by that Armin, had guns on me. Any chance I can have them back?"

"When this is dealt with, I will arrange that."

They entered an elevator.

As they stood inside, Krista sneezed and sniffled.

"...is she sick?" Levi questioned.

"A...allergies," she stammered.

How she spoke and carried herself, she wasn't curious or thoughtful of the world. From the moment Armin dropped them at Karanese, her liveliness was sucked away. Back in the train, Ymir supposed, was when the hope she seemingly had had begun to dissipate.

The eventually stopped at the last floor, the twentieth floor. Levi ushered them out as he addressed the escort,"Mike, keep watch over them in the lobby until I call them."

"Of course," the man named Mike responded.

Levi ventured down the large lobby, he stopped at a door and pulled out a key card to swipe at the small slot in the machine. An audible beep allowed him to enter the room of the penthouse. Left to themselves, Ymir led Krista to a couch and sat there; she pulled her hand away as the girl finally released her.

"Y'know," Krista started,"you could have taken it up on his offer. Why didn't you just let him take me?"

Ymir leaned back and stretched. As she portrayed herself as being calm, she was, deep down, scared. She had no idea how far her wits can take her this time, and she was hoping they would lead her out of it all sooner rather than later.

A sense of recklessness started to pour in- that instinct to fight was starting to rise.

They had to leave.

Wait, they? Didn't she mean her? Shit.

"Easy, you said don't let them kill you, I'm only following orders," Ymir stated,"besides, I'm waiting on you to pay me."

"But...they can pay you more than me, they're a crime syndicate, right?"

Ymir shook her head. "I saved your life at the docks. You can pay me back but that's a pretty big debt."

For the first time, she saw a smile dance on the girl's sad face. Ymir craned her head in curiosity as Krista told her,"That's right, you saved me."

"Y'know, I wish I had someone to pull me out of the water. If I were given a second chance at this fucked up life, I'd take it."

Mike stood nearby, though he paced up and down the hallway. Mostly he may have been bored out of his mind. Every once in a while, he would have his back to her; when he turned, Ymir would have her chance. A part of her was screeching that this was insane, but another had gone through this before. As she watched his footsteps, she lowered her voice.

"We're going to leave."

"But...the guards-"

"I said we're leaving," Ymir pressed on. "Everyone you've known has used you. And whatever Levi said, you being the cure and all- you were supposed to be dead. This sort of thing...they don't need you alive. Unless you wanna stay here and get dissected, come with me. I'm probably your only chance of seeing the sun and the sea again."

Krista instantly took her hand. "I...I'll go with you."

Ymir sighed. While she would hold responsibility over her, the girl's well-being was all that mattered. Normal circumstances would have had her leave the girl to her fate, but if she stayed, there would be no doubt that the Commander would figure out her lies.

Mike walked ahead once more, back turned to them. Ymir got up and silently walked a pace behind. When she was close enough, she wrapped her arm around her throat while using her free hand to cover his mouth. While he struggled to breathe, he began to kick but she responded by throwing her boot to the back of his knee, crippling him. He groaned but she clung to him harder.

Soon enough, he grew limp and his massive form slumped over. Gently, she placed him down and searched through his body to retrieve a Glock and four magazines.

Krista watched on in shock as Ymir rushed to her. She took her hand and led her to the elevator; Glock tucked at her back.

"I-is he dead?" She stammered.

"Passed out, don't worry. Stay calm and they shouldn't suspect anything," Ymir advised her as the elevator door rang. The doors opened and, as they stepped through, Levi had exited the office room. Ymir slammed her fist for the basement floor of the parking lot as the lobby was filled with soldiers. Her plan was makeshift and, by her hope, it would work.

She froze in place as the door closed- no doubt a fight would erupt.

Her hand drew the gun immediately and checked for bullets- it as fully loaded.

She voiced out her thought,"Damn...this is fucking insane."

Krista looked up at her, eyes filled with concern and fear.

_'You better be worth the shit I'm gonna go through for this.'_

But simply locking gazes with her was enough to tell her that it was. The plan of just going to the parking lot fell through- their elevator stopped on the fourth floor and, like a timer going off, the doors slid open.


	7. Chapter 7

"We'll take the stairs from here," Ymir stated," take a car, book it to Trost, then we're outta here."

"W-what about the money-"

"Right now, our lives are more important. We'll talk pay later."

The hallway was empty, it forced Ymir to stand on guard, her paranoia grew and her heart pounded in her ears. Her fingers on the grip tensed and she breathed deeply, now wasn't the time to be losing it. She had a limited amount of rounds to deal with anything, she couldn't waste it all on useless shots. She stepped out into the hallway and quickly scanned a map by the elevator door.

"Left, right, left. Left, right, left." Just three turns, nothing wrong about it.

She took Krista's hand and ran down the hallway, mindful of anyone that would pop around the corner. Lucky for them, no one had. The Scouts were probably just being informed of their escape and were readying to mobilize. By the third one, they found the stairs.

"Listen to me, stick as close as you can to the wall," Ymir instructed carefully,"just go down. No matter what happens, keep going down. I'll be right behind you."

Krista nodded in stunned silence. She was feeling the anxiety too. Ymir took that moment to look at her head, the bruise was so ripe that if it were a fruit, she would have harvested it. No doubt she was remember how her guards knocked her out.

"You have a chance to run from this," Ymir reminded her.

In truth, one of them could die.

Fuck it.

Ymir forced open the door and ushered Krista to run down the stairs ahead of her. The gun was kept low at her side, but when the sound of other iron doors above them announced that the Scouts had decided to take the stairs.

"Go, go, go!" Ymir hissed to her as she looked up. She could see the suited men from three floors above them. They were gaining speed fast- Ymir cursed herself for losing that stamina she once had to go on like this. Her throat burned and her heart pounded, damn.

Those men hadn't fired shots yet.

"Ymir!" She heard Krista gasp.

She nearly crashed into her but her other hand caught the railing. Before her were two men in suits, Krista came to an abrupt stop, Ymir drew the Glock high above the girl's head and instantly fired two shots, head-shots. Those poor men were too slow to react, and as a result, their brains were blasted through; they died as dead heaps upon the floor.

Krista whimpered. "Dead..."

"No time for this," Ymir reminded her. "It's either us or them, your pick."

"They're down stairs!" Shouted the men above them. "I see them- Christ, they shot Dita and Luke!"

"Move, damn it!" Ymir shouted, frustrated and unwilling to deal with the girl's shock. When Krista failed to respond, she grabbed her hand and hurtled down the stairs, dragging the girl with her. Soon, Krista began to run in time with her. "You want to live but you're making it fucking difficult."

One more floor, and then the basement. They managed to get down there without incident and, much to Ymir's relief, they ended up in the parking garage under the hotel. Her eyes darted left and right for the nearest car, and the first thing she found was Armin's. The blue-jay colored Cadillac from the 90's was parked some twenty yards- for some ungodly reason, Armin was there as well.

 **"YOU!"** Ymir roared.

Armin, startled by her presence, attempted to start the car but by the time he revved his engine, Ymir had gotten close enough grab him by the collar and keep her gun against his head. As she held him at gunpoint, he stammered,"N-now, now, let's be reasonable."

"Oh, I'll be fucking reasonable right now. You give us a ride to Trost and I won't blow your head off!"

"Ymir!" Krista shouted, she wrenched her hand away from Ymir's. "D...don't kill-"

"Get in the fucking car!" Ymir snapped brashly at her. "Just get the fuck in there!"

Just having those soldiers being a floor above them and getting ready to shoot them at their backs was driving her rage to ignite far worse than fireworks on New Years. The pressure was too much, by now she had thrown herself into a full-blown panic. She was losing her cool. Krista didn't question her further, she slipped into the back seat while Ymir kept her gun trained on Armin.

She aimed carefully as she made her way around to the passenger's seat.

Still holding Armin at gunpoint, she took a deep breath and calmly let out,"Drive."

Just being in the presence of Armin was starting to make her lose her mind. It didn't help when he started to protest, and it definitely didn't help when the suited men came pouring out the elevator and door. "Ymir, if you just let them have Krista, we wouldn't be in this mess, now's not the time to be selfish in whatever endeavor you got-"

"I SAID **FUCKING DRIVE** , DIPSHIT!" Ymir violently burst out. She fired a few rounds at the Scouts through the open window on the driver's side.

Armin yelped and stepped on the gas, he knew better than to protest again. After all, she was waving a gun in his face, literally. Tires screeched in the parking lot, he headed for the nearest ramp that led to the streets. As he picked up speed, Ymir sat back in the seat and took a breather.

"Take the short-cuts, whatever, just lose them," Ymir said, her voice evening out. Her hand shook as she clutched the gun; the rush she felt was exciting, like hitting drug for the first time in years. Now that the fear was gone with every intersection they flew through, she had to admit she enjoyed the thrill. Only enjoy things when you come back alive. As they vanished deeper into Karanese, she glared at Armin.

Now to deal with him.

"Give me any needle you got," Ymir demanded.

"G-glove box," Armin curtly answered.

She popped it open and found several needles, all these were tossed out the window.

"Cell phone?" She asked.

"Uh, between us."

She looked down, saw the phone, and checked it quickly before throwing it out as well. No one to trace them.

"Anything else?"

"You might not wanna toss the third thing out," Armin said as his voice shook with fear.

"Alright, what's the third thing I won't like?"

"There's a tracker in Krista, that's what Reiss Company uses to keep tabs on her."

"Fucking Christ." Ymir rolled her eyes and turned in her seat to stare at Krista in disbelief. "Did you know-"

"No!" Krista exclaimed. She was the most frazzled out of the three of them, her eyes were wide in fright and she was curled up in her seat in that fetal position; she looked helpless just doing that. Yelling at her over this, it wasn't worth the mental strain, Ymir softened her eyes and turned back to the front.

"Where, Armin?"

"It's a metal-looking tooth, the batshit doctor I told you about put a device in her oral cavity; if you want it out, you gotta take it out or else you're gonna have more than the Scouts crashing down on you."

Ymir groaned and wiped her eyes with a free hand as she directed at Krista,"Ugh, at least we found the chain you're on..."

The rest of the ride to Trost was silent between them. Perhaps an hour into it, Ymir stretched her limbs and asked,"Got a pack on you?"

"I don't smoke," Armin meekly said,"we can pull over at the station-"

"Use cash," Ymir said,"I'm taking you in there with me."

Armin nodded and after another mile, a station came into view. He pulled into it and parked by one of the pumps. Ymir glanced back at Krista; she didn't look like she would take off any time soon. Her attention and paranoia on Armin drew her eyes away from her as she got out of the car with him. Silently, they walked into the rugged mart in the middle of the country.

An aloof cashier munching on tobacco threw a glance to them and went back to his magazine.

"Benson and Hedges," Ymir ordered, making sure Armin stuck close.

"Seven," he returned in boredom, he dove down to take a green pack and presented it to her. Armin fumbled for his wallet and took out a ten. Once they got what she wanted, the change was given to him and they returned to the car without incident.

Krista was still there, unmoving.

"I'll sit in the back with her," Ymir stated. "Try anything stupid and I'll _strangle_ you."

Armin gave a weary nod and once again, they were off.

Ymir reached for her back pocket- at least Armin didn't strip her of a lighter. She lit one for herself and lowered the window.

"You...killed someone," Krista muttered.

"And?"

"You killed someone-"

"I told you, either us or them," Ymir reasoned with her.

Krista refused to look at her.

"You scared?"

A nod.

"...get over it, you'll be seeing it more often if you stick with me," she coarsely told her. When she didn't reply, she pressed on,"It's not uncommon, dying. Just a bullet to the head is considered mercy."

"What are you?"

"Hm?"

Krista's voice cracked as she croaked out,"What are you?"

She took a long drag and replied,"I'm Ymir."

"You're so calm, you just killed people and you're so calm."

"You get used to it," she said.

In retrospect, someone as sheltered as Krista wouldn't have known what it was like to take a life. She didn't seem able to cope properly with life being taken right in front of it, it wasn't sitting well with the poor girl. To Ymir, pulling a trigger was just second nature- but then in another life, she would have taken more care into doing such a thing. That time was gone now.

So much for checking up on her, it was thrown out the window, just like her unfinished cigarette.

-...-

The black bay of Trost came into view, a familiar shithole she called home.

As Armin drove into the worn down streets, Ymir directed him,"That corner there, right...a bit longer, left now. Up the street there, park in the back 'round there."

Armin stopped the car in the back alley where there few passed through. The darkness rose from the shadows of the buildings that blocked the streetlights- she felt at ease here. The only way into this part was a single entrance from the street- Ymir always went through this way when going home.

Upon opening the door, the salty sea breeze engulfed her. Horns sounded on and off in the distance. The night sky hung over them just at it had done last night. Her hand went to rub behind her neck, to take care of an itch and a thought; how could twenty-four hours pass? One moment she's serving breakfast to the girl, the next she's getting abducted, and then the next she's back to where she started.

"Armin, where are my guns?" She said when he stepped out of the car.

"In the back," he said, he went to the back with her and popped open the trunk to reveal her arms and bag. As she fitted the hostlers, Armin spoke quietly,"Krista's still in the back there."

"Geeze," Ymir huffed. Once she was well equipped, she reached into her back for a silencer. "Well, I gotta thank you a lot for bringing us back."

Armin raised a brow. The only light that provided sight came from the car's inner bulb in the roof; it was automatic as the doors were open. With the poor lighting, he wasn't able to discern what she was doing when she pulled out her Beretta. He assumed she was checking her magazine.

"So...you're going to let me go, right?"

"Something like that," Ymir said, slightly agreeing. She was still sore about him abducting her- after all, it did sting her pride that someone so fragile looking was able to knock out with a drug. "Alright, let's play a game."

She screwed on the silencer and, from the shadows, pulled it out to examine it.

"If you can run down that alley there and not get shot when I fire, you're free to go and live to fuck me over another day."

"Ymir," he tried to reason, once more, with her. "I'm just a neutral party, ok? I was commissioned to-"

"It doesn't matter, now start running."

Armin clenched his fists and teeth, and without trying to reason with her, he took off. As he sprinted, he made a beeline for the one way entrance. He was still in the shadows, running. Within that filthy alley she could hear his feet pounding against the pavement, desperate. Just as he neared the entrance, he let out a straggled gasp, he sounded relieved, but that just won't do.

Without bothering to line the shot, she fired aimlessly. Quite strikingly, her bullet burrowed itself deep into his leg, causing him to yelp out in pain. His lithe body crumpled to the ground.

Ymir snorted and walked to him, swiftly. When she neared him, he was just about to reach the light of a flickering streetlamp. Upon the ground was a dark hue of red, blood was seeping from him as he laid there, glaring up at her.

"You lost," she lowly mocked him as she pointed the barrel at his head.

He was going to say something, but she fired the moment his mouth opened. And just like that, Armin was dead.

As the blood oozed from his wounds, she picked up his shoulders and dragged him to rest him behind a dumpster. The white shirt that was once pure now stained in blood, she made sure to wipe her red hand over his pants. After making sure he wouldn't be spotted too soon, she made her way to the car. Inside, Krista was no longer in her usual spot. She cursed and looked around, it was too dark.

"Krista?" She asked her.

The sound of the safety clicking caught her ears. Immediately she whirled around to face a barrel.

Ymir didn't feel fear, only surprise. And so she raised a brow. "Better watch where you point that, Blondie."

"I...I told you not to kill him," Krista uttered, voice wavering; even the gun she held shook.

"I gave him a fair game," Ymir conversationally replied.

Her voice rose as anger burned within the smaller woman. "People's lives aren't meant to be toyed with!"

"And that Glock you're holding isn't a toy either. Put that away and get in the car, you're being stupid."

"H-he...he told me what you were, and I thought it was just a lie. People like you, they don't pull girls out of the water to save them-"

Ymir felt a snap in her mind, and so she retaliated harshly,"And what does that shit know about me? Huh? What do you know about me!? You think two hours being hostage to him is gonna tell you who I am?"

She slammed the butt of her gun against the trunk's hood.

Krista flinched.

"I only pulled you out of that water because you got a pretty face! I coulda just let you drown! I coulda left you back at that fucking hotel! Fuck, I could leave you right here and now- if you know so much about me, go ahead and fucking fire the damn thing!"

By now, she felt her breath hitch in her throat- a part of her was waiting for that gun to go off. She was anticipating it- people who went through such turmoil within a day would normally snap, right? She'd been there before, now here she was again on the other side of the gun, waiting.

Krista stood stiller than an anchor in the sea.

She wasn't going to shoot.

"Fucking kill me already! What the fuck is stopping you-"

A blast of light greeted her, following it was the heavy ring. Ymir expected to find her body on fire, as most bullet wounds tended to feel like, but she was on her feet, unscathed. She saw Krista's hands convulsing, her eyes wide and mouth open, tears were streaming down her cheeks.

Silence followed from both parties as the gun smoked. Krista uttered weakly,"Ymir...I'm- I'm scared..."

The adrenaline that kicked up slowly ebbed away. Just as the girl burst into broken sobs, Ymir's anger sank into the darkness- for some reason, she felt relieved herself that she was still alive. The girl was proving herself to be a headache, but within her, she saw someone that was long gone. She saw herself, and while she would have easily ended her and be rid of the haunting reflection, she wanted it to be kept intact.

Ymir unscrewed the silencer and holstered her Beretta, she offered open arms, some solace in the girl's life.

Krista immediately flung herself into her, the embrace was much appreciated, she was grateful. She cried into Ymir's chest, her small body shuddering against the stronger, taller frame. Ymir ran a hand through her golden, messy locks while she had the other rub her back. It was strange to hold another person, it was stranger to even feel the butt of the Glock being pressed against the small of her back.

They stood like this in the dark.

Not long after, Ymir parted from her, saying,"We need to get out of here, you discharged the weapon and the authorities are gonna swarm in soon."

Krista gave a single nod and wiped her eyes, both rounded into the car. Ymir backed the car up with the headlights turned on, quite suddenly did the lights flash upon Armin's dead body sleeping peacefully behind the dumpster.

"Don't look," Ymir warned her.

Krista gasped and averted her attention from it.

She was learning to turn a blind eye now.

As they drove down the road in silence, Ymir wondered how much of a poor influence she was to the girl.

After all, they were heading to the bar she worked at.

Krista had calmed down by now. When they stopped at an intersection, Ymir asked her,"Had you ever tried a martini?"

"A...a what?"

"Nothing, you just seem like the fruity kind of girl."

Her look of confusion made Ymir chuckle, it brought light to the situation; the thought of alcohol spurned her to be, for once, happy to see Reiner and her other coworkers.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TRIGGER WARNING**

The bar was in the middle of Trost, huddled between a barber shop and a laundromat. Three Walls. Her boss had shitty names for things. Unlike the other buildings down the street, the structure was well-kept to a certain extent so that it was distinguishable from the dilapidated neighbors. She parked the car across the street and then checked her guns.

A quick glance to Krista told her that she was still holding her Glock. Ymir extended a hand to her while her other was busy lighting a cigarette between her teeth.

"Give it. I don't trust you with that yet."

"...afraid I'll shoot up the place?"

Ymir grimaced. "Exactly. Now give it."

Krista hesitated to hand it over, but she did. It was tucked into Ymir's pants in the back as her holsters were full.

"Here's the run-down. Go inside, have a few drinks, and just relax. That's all you need."

"Relax? Me? But what if...the security, they might come, I have the tracker still."

"Don't worry, I got that covered- oh, don't talk to this big blond guy, Reiner. Just don't, I'll be serving you."

Krista took in her words with careful consideration, then she nodded slowly. Just do as your told. Don't question it. Just do it.

"Good girl."

They exited the car and headed for the bar's doors. The laughing and music playing indicated a full house for the evening- hopefully there would be enough to keep Krista hidden in the crowd. She opened the door and ushered Krista in.

"Yo," she announced when she approached the bar after pushing through people to get there. The music wasn't as loud as the chattering, though it slowly began to die when the football game came back onto the screen.

A thickening haze of smoke from the patrons was home to her.

Reiner was busy mixing drinks in the shaker. Upon Ymir entering, he gave her an acknowledging glance; she tossed a pair of the Cadillac's keys to him. He had to quickly drop the metal cups to the bar to catch them, much to his patron's disparage. His burly hand took the key up to his face to examine it.

"What's this?" He questioned.

"You said you wanted a new car, got you a new car," she said, smirking at him.

He narrowed his eyes. "Bullshit. Who was it this time?"

"Damn, you're smarter than I thought. Listen up, idiot, I take over your shift for a bit, you get rid of the Cadillac in front. Sound good?"

The sound of getting away from work for a little while was pleasing to him, always. He took off his black apron and tossed it to her.

"...better than anything. We at close at one this time. Bert and Annie fucked off so it's just me and Berwick. Man's pissed."

"Fuck Berwick," she snidely told him while putting the apron around her waist. He went around the bar and headed for the door, she gestured for Krista to sit near Reiner's customer. Once Krista was seated comfortably, Ymir easily jumped over the table and landed on the other side. She picked up the mixture, checked it, and resumed the process. "The scent of this one, Sasha, hardly noticed you there."

The customer was a brunette woman dressed raggedly. She had her brunette hair tied up, below that were clothes that made her look like a hunter of sorts; what was alarming was the amount of bloodstains on her jeans. She almost resembled an animal yet no one was fazed by her.

"Got here ten minutes ago, yup," Sasha said thickly with a near hick accent.

Before her were plates of chips, she dipped one of them into a red looking sauce and happily ate it.

"What'cha doin' with this girl?" Sasha inquired.

Ymir finished it and served her a green tonic, she then moved on to pour beer from the faucet to two guys a seat away from them. "Having her first shot."

Once the other patrons were attended to, she had a few more mugs to serve for the tables. Skillfully, she balanced the drinks on a tray and quickly refreshed the customers in front of the tv. Without anyone else calling her, she had time to work for Krista. She started grinding some fruit and took a bottle of vodka up.

Krista observed her, eyes wide, at the haste and work she put into mixing a drink. And when she finished it, she presented it to her with a small, pink umbrella on the side.

"Drink up," Ymir instructed, but then a man came by.

"Ymir, where the hell is everyone?" Berwick demanded. "We have a full house for fuck's sake!"

"Bert and Annie fucked off, Reiner had to jack it," she replied as though it were the simplest of answers.

He scowled. "Go fucking clean up the mess in the restroom. Someone looked like they had a baby in there."

Ymir rolled her eyes, then addressed Sasha,"Hey, watch over her."

"Sure thing!" Sasha said, voice muffled from her food.

Ymir left the bar and dove out of sight from around a corner.

"What's yer story?" Sasha suddenly asked of her.

"I...really don't know," Krista told her as she stared at the drink. "One moment she's killing people, the next she's making me a martini."

Sasha shrugged. "That's Ymir for ya, hadn't heard her pick up a gun in a looooong time though."

"W...why is she...she?"

"Ymir?" Krista nodded. "Um..."

Sasha was brought to look at her glass as well.

"Back a while, she used to walk 'round Shiganshina like it was her own shooting gallery. Everyone wanted her either dead or for work, either way, as long as you pay her, she'll do it. Lived almost like a god back there, hell, I wonder if she misses that. One day, she took up a job from a client, then just dropped out. Hadn't seen her face until I found her workin' in this place."

"Drop out?"

"Get off'a radar, lay low, stuff like that," she explained. She finally took a drink from her glass, she smiled at it. "I used t'be her get-away driver for half those things, made cash off the side from her. Damn, never seen her smilin' like a killer after that."

She took it in, what Armin had told her fit the description; the thought of the dead young man made her shudder. "Armin didn't say that exactly; she's wanted by the country, isn't she?"

"No surprise. How high is she?"

"He said she was a national criminal."

"That's Ymir for ya. That might have had to do with the heist back in '09, she went off'a the hook there."

"Why aren't the authorities after her?"

"War drags attention away- the gov'ment can care less about the danger level of s'long as she don't do anythin' for the enemy. Besides, bein' quiet for this long, Trost barely knows her nowadays except for bein' a snark bartender."

"People...they keep mentioning about this 'botched' job, the one she dropped out of. What did that really entail?"

Sasha leaned back and gazed at the ceiling. "Ha! That was shortly after Shiganshina was taken! She and I, we were gettin' ready to pack our bags and then one man from the slums requested an escort for him and his family by the front-lines. Y'see, we had the fastest boat in the city at the time, a PT boat, not her ketch; wouldn't blame him for knowing about us. Ymir wanted to leave, said,'Fuck yer family,' until he gave her a lotta cash.

"He was poor but man, did he know how to deal. And so we went off 'round the bay, avoiding soldiers left and right, until we got to the South Docks; sure, we got the family all nice and loaded into the boat- a wife and three children." Her voice dropped, her tone became morose. "One was a baby, another was seven, the last was nineteen, almost as pretty as you, now that I think of it.

"Anyway, we got the hell outta there as fast we can but...right after we crossed lines to this country's side of the fight, the Scouts fired at us. PT boat's sank, family died, I nearly died, and I thought Ymir died, no one can survive that barrage."

To show proof of this, she pushed aside her shirt's collar to show the scars of bullets that riddled her shoulder. "Jean came by and picked me up in his broken boat, but since she ditched on him in a job earlier, that one was botched too, he didn't bother to get Ymir. How she's still alive...damn." She let out a low whistle. "Ya gonna drink that?"

Krista shook her head.

"Ooooh, she ain't gonna appreciate a wasted drink," Sasha warned her. "Last time Connie got mad and threw his drink at a gambler, she socked him in the face ."

She had seen Ymir's brutality upfront. Two men died in front of her, Armin did as well; she immediately drank her martini.

An empty glass stood in front of her, so did Ymir.

"Feeling woozy?" Ymir asked, Krista shook her head. "There goes trying to get it in easy-"

Reiner returned by announcing his coming with,"Three over in the front need refreshments, get over there."

"You're one to talk, I'm done," she said as he went around the bar; she tossed his apron back and grabbed a bottle of vodka, the same she had been using for Krista. She gestured for Krista to come with her. "Yo, turn up the tv for a bit- make it loud."

He gave her a quizzical look, but when Krista stood up, he got the message and glared at her while turning the volume higher. The cheering of the crowd was stronger than ever as the music from the radio went up as well. Both the man and Sasha followed their eyes upon their backs as Ymir ushered Krista up stairs. They went higher to the third floor to where Ymir produced a key from her boot.

"I used to hole up in here after I got the boat, that's how I got the job," she explained briefly while unlocking the padlock that hung by two hooks,"Berwick said that as long as I can mix things, he won't shoot me for trespassing."

She turned on the lights.

The third floor was as spacious as the bar below, though it looked larger as there was minimal furnishings. To the right was a small kitchenette, to the left was an old television set and a worn couch in front of it, and then a corner tucked to the corner by the window. A large safe sat by the fridge, unopened and collecting dust.

From up here, the activities of the bar below were muffled.

"We don't have that much time so we need to make this quick," Ymir started as she locked the door again with an extra set of hooks on the inside of the door. She used several latches to secure the door, along with a metal brace that swung from the wall. "Go sit at that table there."

Krista did as she was told; Ymir observed her movements, she was still sober. "...why are you trying to get me drunk?"

"Because it's the best medicine in life, don't worry, I'll drink with you."

"An entire military company is going to come after us and your solution is alcohol." She grimaced and brought her legs up to curl them against her chest. "Armin was right about you."

Ymir snorted. "I know, I'm a terrible person."

She rifled through the cupboards to find two shots glasses; they were clean, luckily. Settling on in front of Krista, she sat down next to her and placed the bottle and her glass onto the table. She went back and retrieved a shoebox (after briefly checking the contents, she was satisfied with them) and placed it far from Krista's reach; it raised her curiosity.

"What's that?"

"The real solution, but I'll only show you if you get shitfaced," Ymir bribed her with a smirk while removing her chest holster to hang them on the back of the chair. "Y'know the payment you wanted to talk about? Get drunk for me and that'll be enough, you don't have to give me money."

"I thought you loved it more than anything."

"For now, staying alive is my priority. Now, drink."

She poured the hard liquor into the glasses and offered Krista a toast.

"Cheers for...not shooting me," she declared.

"...yeah, cheers," Krista murmured.

They both downed it with Krista gagging and spluttering.

Ymir laughed and reveled in the burn that tore through her throat. After a long day, she really needed to feel that hit; she poured once more.

"It tastes...so bad!" She coughed.

"You can't stop until you get drunk!"

Again.

Now she was feeling the buzz, but as much as she wanted to continue, she had to stay sober to operate.

"Keep going," she goaded her, her worries ebbing away. It takes two hours to drive from Karanese to Trost, hopefully they had enough time to lose the Reiss Company. She glanced at her watch. Thirty minutes, just approximately that long before things went down. As she read the last second, she heard Krista let out an uncharacteristic giggle; she could relax now. "How you feeling?"

"I...I think it's called being drunk?" Krista asked, looking at her with heavy eyes.

"Nah, you're not plastered yet. Here, have another."

She gave her a shot.

"W-why aren't you drinking?"

"This is more for you than it is for me," Ymir admitted.

"...am I a comedic sort? Entertainment?"

"Maybe." Ymir smirked, she couldn't remember the last time she drank with someone. Normally at this point she would start fucking girls, just being tipsy left her heated but she had to focus on the matter at hand. She rested her head against her hand as she propped herself, she poured another.

Krista swayed a bit in her seat, she was getting there, maybe one more. Just one more.

"I...Ymir, where did you come from?"

Once she was hammered, the girl won't remember a thing, Ymir had no purpose to lie to her. As she recalled her thoughts, they didn't disturb her under the vodka.

"I'm...from the other side, the enemy country. My parents were killed during a siege," she began slowly,"I was about six, barely remember any of them. When the Scouts found me, I was about to be killed but they were making money off of the side by prostitution. So, they took me in. Had me chained up for days at their base, passing me 'round like a toy- when I was fourteen, I got my first tattoo to mark me, here."

She lifted her shirt to reveal a pair of wings branded right by her hip; it spanned up just below her left breast. One navy blue and one silver, they were the only coat of arms residing in Trost.

"Showing this to anyone in the military meant one of two things- you're a whore to them or you're a soldier in their ranks. Either way, it means you're a tool."

She brought her shirt down and grimaced.

"A little after that, I killed the officer holding me and got out- we were in Shiganshina at the time, and after that, I did what I knew best other than sex. Killing. Stealing. Anything you consider bad. Money's all I've known from this, and that's all I've lived for."

"Don't you...have anyone in this world?" Krista innocently inquired.

It became silent between them. In truth, Ymir had no one in this dreary life. No one. She was alone. That was her reality. That was the only reality she'd known.

She never stopped for a moment to think about it, not once.

"I can...I can be in your world," Krista went on as though she were rambling. "Look at me. I got...everyone I've known all my life, they've lied to me. My mother's dead. My father is trying to kill me. All I got is you, even if you start to use me, it's better than nothing. You are...you're a horrible person-"

"-I'm as shitty as they get-"

"-but I'm accepting that."

"Here, drink up," Ymir suggested out of not wanting to hear her say that.

Krista took it down without a problem.

"All you need...is someone in your life. Someone who won't use you, kill you, anything like that- I wouldn't do that to you. I can't."

Ymir snorted. "It's easy to do it once you had a taste for blood."

"I'm not you, I'm not them either."

"You're pure," Ymir murmured under her breath.

Krista looked ready to pass out, her speech had begun to slur. "Whah you say?"

"...ok, you're ready, get up," Ymir instructed. When Krista had difficulty even putting her hand to the table, Ymir decided to help her; she effortlessly picked her up and took her to the bed to where she laid her down carefully. Once making sure she wouldn't role around, she turned on the lamp and cranked the joint to adjust its position. The light shined against Krista's face, causing displeasure.

"Too bright," she complained unpleasant,"turn it...off-"

"Need to see your pretty face, Blondie," Ymir said as she brought the shoebox to rest it on the floor. "Alright...you might not think well about me after this. But you need to get the chain off of you, once that's done, you're free to live a second chance."

"Huh?"

"Don't worry about it, you'll thank me after. Open your mouth."

Krista obediently did, but as Ymir leaned close, she propped herself up and pressed her lips against hers. Ymir let out a muffled yelp as a tongue protruded into her mouth to mingle with her. Feeling her playfully lick the roof while letting the vodka leak in threw Ymir in a tizzy; it was a feeling she never experienced before with the others. It sent her toes curling as she felt a hand weave its fingers into her hair.

She heard her giggle.

Damn, that was cute. She wanted more all of a sudden, and the next she knew, she had brought herself over the girl, pinning her to the bed as she tried to, sadly in an amusing way, dominate her. Their lips meshed together, a trail of saliva fell between them but Ymir pulled her mouth away; a fire began to burn within her.

"You're not so bad," Ymir complimented her.

"Ha!"

She stooped low to playfully nip at the juncture of her neck. The sweat and grime, her skin tasted like the ocean. She traced a vein and Krista took in a sharp breath; a quick bite elicited a squeak.

"Oh!"

She chuckled at the base of her throat and withdrew herself from her, from all of her, regrettably. She went off to fetch a chair and sit by her. "Once this is over, we'll do that again, and more. Sweet deal?"

Krista laughed and smiled at her, a blush stained her cheeks. "Sweeter than anything."

Ymir shook her head. "Poor influence, me."

"Poor."

"Now...open up your mouth," Ymir said once again. She leaned over her, then used her shoulder to pin her down.

From the light shinning above, she could see a piece of silver glisten back at her from the depths of Krista's liquor laced mouth. It had a small red dot to the top, it was indeed a tracking device. It was a molar just a tooth away from her gums in the very back in the right, it was on the bottom.

'Shit, she'll be a heavy bleeder.'

She withdrew her hand and reached into the shoebox to pull out a pair of handcuffs; she cuffed both of the girl's hands to the bed frame. Once secured, she grabbed a pair of pliers.

"What's that?" She asked.

"The hammer to get the chain off."

"Uuuuuh-ah!"

Ymir climbed over her, she settled atop of her abdomen. Once Krista gained the vaguest idea of her intentions, she began to struggle against the chains; Ymir shoved the metal pliers into her mouth and took a firm grip on the metal tooth. She gave one tug to test it to find that it had been embedded long enough for blood vessels to cling to it. She eased her pressure and looked over at Krista's eyes.

They were full of that gut-wrenching fear from earlier. They were already screaming from Ymir to get off of her.

She did her best to ignore that and began to, this time, forcefully yank on the tooth. The first pull caused Krista to scream in pain, she always said her teeth were sensitive.

Another yank, a louder scream. Nothing moved, but Krista's feet began to kick, her knees slammed against Ymir's back.

In truth, this was sort of terrifying to Ymir, it irked her to no end.

She brought a hand to the girl's sweating forehead as leverage, she pressed against that as she pulled roughly, trying to loosen it.

Krista was keening with tears flooding her eyes, she was begging her to stop.

By the third one, there was a loosening feeling.

"Almost, girl," Ymir encouraged her.

She paused for a moment to give her arm a rest.

Krista had taken the impression that she was done and began to relax, she let out a sigh of relief but then Ymir started back up again.

A few minutes of this passed. The screams were deafening to Ymir, she had been in bed with a lot of girls but it was never like this. Oh, no, never like this.

Not one moment of this did she enjoy.

On the final pull, the tooth popped out. The crimson liquid poured profusely from the socket and Krista screeched, sobbing uncontrollably and groaning in agony. Ymir sat back to examine the small device she held with her pliers. It too was bloody, a speck fell and landed upon the bed. She sighed and dismounted Krista to pull up a hammer from the shoebox, she went to the window and opened it.

With the tooth out, she settled it against the metal frame and, with a quick, swift motion, she smashed the tooth into tiny pieces, rendering it inoperable. A small chunk of metal bits rested on the sill, she swept them over to the streets and closed the window, her job done.

Krista had grown silent; she had passed out in the midst of screaming and now the room was filled with the quietness of the two. Ymir rubbed away the strain of her eyes with the back of her hand, then strode to Krista to turn her head to the side so she wouldn't drown in her own blood.

She fetched a bucket from under the sink, unlocked the cuffs, and hung Krista's head over the bucket with her mouth open.

A constant, sickening stream of blood disgusting a morbid waterfall. The bottom of the fall pooled into the bucket, almost unending, she hopped she didn't have to get her stitches, her handiwork with small tasks were mediocre.

As she watched over her, she hoped Sasha was still there to give her a ride to her home; they needed a place for Krista to recover.

She glanced out the window, outside, across the street from where she had parked earlier, a black car was sitting in its place.

"...this job is never going to end," she groaned out.


	9. Chapter 9

The small yellow dot disappeared off of the grid, she cursed and went to her phone.

After getting a hold of the other end, Hanji let out a tired sigh.

"I gave them the location of where she was last at. My men should be there by now."

"..."

"Armin's usually the one who relays that information to you, so I'm sorry it took a tad but longer- wait, he was taken!?"

"..."

"By Ymir? You mean, hold on...oh god, that criminal!? How did she, you guys...so that's what happened..."

"..."

"Ok, then, I'll do what I can here."

Hanji placed the phone back into the receiver. In front of her numerous computer screens that glowed with images of the streets and various calculations, she leaned her head against her hands, letting her face be buried into them. She groaned at being between a rock and a hard place; Reiss was breathing down her neck, as were the precious experiments, literally.

A few days ago Armin had hacked into the mainframe of her system. For whatever reason's unknown, and learning that he was an unreliable sort, she tried her best to rewire the system's command system but it had been too late. The facility she was housed in automatically underwent automatic security measures and, unfortunately, trapped her inside the building, along with those who hadn't escaped.

Sure she had supplies to last for months, but her prowess was next to nothing.

Plus, all this research she had to watch over was the priority of her life; she'd be damned if someone came in and ruined it all, physically dead or alive. She notified Petra and the others and authorized an immediate termination of the Project Historia- no, Krista, to avoid her getting into the wrong hands. Well, she was still alive as the tracker had been blinking on her personal screen consistently.

Now that it had disappeared, it meant one of two things; she was absolutely dead or she had it removed. She hoped it was the former, as much as it pained her.

Those specimens were banging at her door. She had grown accustomed to them assaulting their cells whenever she walked by, but now, knowing they were right out the door, it was driving her mad.

"Damn it, I told Reiss to equip this place with guns!"

A thought crossed her. Her own personal guard, Moblit, as she remembered him last, was killed just a hallway down the door. He was carrying a firearm.

Hanji looked around her private room. Amongst the stacks of papers and shelves of jarred samples, she saw a vent overhanging the wall to her right.

-...-

"Ok, this is taking too fucking long," Ymir impatiently murmured.

She rested Krista's head over the bed for a minute, then rushed to the kitchenette for a dirty rag. She shoved it into Krista's mouth, the rest of it was used to cover her face; hopefully the bar would be too drunk to take notice of it. Wait, why was she concerned of her looks? She was Ymir, damn it, no one questioned what she does on her free time.

The handcuff that sat near Krista's leg caught her eye, no harm in having it just in case, right? She shuddered at feeling it against her skin, she hooked it by her belt and took the small keys into her pocket.

She quickly put on her holsters and then picked up Krista from bed, the girl's blood was soaking into the rag just like Armin's shirt. With difficulty in the dim lighting, she descended to the first floor and entered the bar from behind a wall. She paused to readjust Krista, then found Sasha sitting there, unmoving, though she looked sober enough to have a coherent discussion.

"Ay, Sasha!"

"Ya only say that when ya need'a ride- oh shit!" She fell out of her chair when she saw Krista bundled up in her arms. Quickly glancing left and right, she got up and pushed Ymir behind a tall fern that sat in a pot nearby, it was a poor disguise. She hissed,"What the hell did ya do to that girl? It's only been an hour and ya gone and done her in!? Connie would'a taken care'a her in the morning-"

"Relax, she's still alive, just missing a tooth," Ymir said calmly, she lifted the rag up with her mouth. Sasha reached over to her face and forced one eye open, Krista groaned in her sleep as her blue eye lazily rolled around, looking at nothing in particular. "Long story, just let me bunk at your place until she can heal up. It's a favor, Sasha."

Sasha bit at her lip nervously. As she was making her decision, the front doors opened; three men and one woman entered the Three Walls, they were the most shadiest looking people Ymir had ever seen, and they were clean about it. They each looked around, scanning the place for the girl they sought.

One of them, a man who had a bit of blood trailing down the corner of his mouth, looked directly at Ymir. He tapped the woman next to him and then all four of them brought their attention to her. They started approaching, steadfast.

"Uh, here, take her through the back and get your car ready, be out in a few," Ymir said without giving Sasha a chance to answer. She handed Krista over into her unsuspecting arms and slapped her over the shoulder. Sasha knew better than to back out of this, and so she took off running for the bar.

Petra, the woman, drew a gun out, much to Berwick's sudden protest,"Put that away!" And when he spotted Ymir, he barked at her,"Take care of that!"

Feeling the rush come back to her, she withdrew her own Beretta and fired a shot immediately. It took perfect aim to remove the gun from Petra's hand; by then the patrons were aware of what was happening. Most, if not all, took to Ymir's stance and had taken their own arms out, quickly disliking the immediate interruption of happy hour.

Petra wilted to her knees, the shock of having her hand nearly blown off left her in a haze but Ymir cared less of what she thought. She glanced back to see that Sasha had already disappeared.

She aimed the gun directly at Petra's forehead as she glared at the three men as they held her in gunpoint.

"Three men and a woman walk into a bar dressed in nice outfits," Ymir started,"what does the bitch do out of random? Pull out a gun!" She clicked her tongue. "This city's a shithole but it doesn't mean people here don't follow proper etiquette-"

"We're from the Reiss Company so I suggest you don't be so cross with us," one of the men, a blond one who she recalled as Erd, warned her. "We're under direct orders to retrieve Krista Reiss for the safety of our country, and it just so happens she was here at this place." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a badge, it was too amusing for Ymir. "If none of you people put down your weapons, you will be apprehended-"

Ymir fired a round, though it was at the ceiling and not at Petra, it immediately shut him up.

"No one follows orders here. Hadn't you seen a cop for a mile?"

"We're the authority-"

 **"SCOUTS!"** Cried a voice from outside.

The entire bar froze.

A chill ran up her spine as confusion clouded her mind.

The Scouts? How? The security guards that played babysitter with Krista had a plausible means of getting here, but the Scouts?

No way, they shouldn't have access to Krista's tracker. No matter, just hearing the name of that organization was enough for Ymir to fuck off, she didn't have time to deal with all of them.

The bar erupted into chaos as patrons attempted to flood out of the building. In the midst she saw Reiner exit the restroom and enter into a hell of people as they drunkenly tried to leave. As they fled out the front door, Ymir was jostled to the side by a fat man, causing her to fall over and lose her hold on her gun; the cuffs tumbled out of its hook a few feet away.

She scrambled to her feet as she took her gun the sound of glass breaking caught her ears.

Landing in front of her was a round metal ball. She stared at it in wonder for a few seconds, she suddenly recognized what it was.

Smoke screen.

A hiss from it and several others came about, everything went black. She covered her mouth and ducked her head as shots rang over. All around her, unlucky targets died, screams of the wounded rose, men shouting orders were drowned away in the gunfire. She took cover behind the bar to where she could see Berwick dead on the floor. She cringed at seeing him like this as his head was riddled with bullets.

"You were a shitty boss anyway," Ymir sighed as she rested under the counter. To her left was a bottle of opened rum, she had a few sips of it as she waited for the gunfire to quiet down.

She made sure her magazines were full for a moment. As she sat there, a hand touched her shoulder, causing her to spit out the rum and point the Beretta at whoever dared to contact her.

"It's me!" Bertolt yelped as he drew back his hand quickly. He had been crawling, as was Annie as she was right by him, quiet; she wasn't fazed by the fighting on the other side.

"Where the fuck did you- no, I don't wanna know," Ymir hissed with her gun waving the words away.

"What the hell is going on!?" He demanded.

"Dunno, ask Berwick," she said, pointing the barrel at him.

"B-Berwick!?" Bertolt paled at the sight of him, then grabbed Ymir's shoulder. "R-Reiner, where is he!? Where's Reiner!?"

"Near the bathroom, last I saw," Ymir answered, she sipped another and left the bottle on the floor. Bertolt crawled back for a moment and went to his little station at the bar. He pulled a drawer out and produced an M500, he loaded it up with a buckshot and threw himself into the haze, disappearing on the instant. Annie was readying to go as well as she had her own Colt drawn for the fight, it wouldn't do much but Ymir shrugged it away. "Annie, before you go-"

Annie paused.

"There's a woman in the center, bet you she's still sitting there. She got this blondish reddish hair, kinda short too, in a suit. She knows what's happening, if you get her alive, that'd be appreciated."

She disappeared without giving her clarification.

Ymir wiped away the booze from her lips and made her way on all fours towards the backdoor that led through the kitchen.

A stray bullet was fired overhead, she hissed and turned to see a man aiming at her once more. She lunged to the right to hide behind a pillar, then fired around the corner until she heard a groan and a body hit the floor. Making sure she wasn't followed, she headed out through the back; the shooting was still going on, screams were still heard. She didn't want to stick around anymore.

She threw herself into the passenger's side of Sasha's truck as she was waiting.

Tires screeched once she slammed the door shut. Having gotten away without a scratch was another day to be thankful for, she reclined in her seat and rested her feet atop the dash.

It was silent for a few streets or so. The gunfight from the bar was drowned out in the usual sounds of Trost, nothing extraordinary now though the presence of Scouts would cause alarm for anyone.

As they drove by the pier, Sasha finally let out,"Ymir, what the fuck."

"What do you mean _what the fuck_?"

"We got a girl bleeding out in the back, we got a shootout at the bar, fuck, and I swear we got Scouts running by in the alley- I'm surprised Annie and Bertolt weren't shot when they asked me what was happening. What the fuck did ya do this time?"

"It's a long story," Ymir let out with a snort. "Is Connie home?"

"He ought to be."

She started relaying the story to her.

By the time she reached the bar in her time, Sasha pulled into the driveway of her trailer home. Though it wasn't a trailer, it was one of those portable homes that were built in halves and moved around. Sasha's establishment was outside of Trost and settled in the midst of the woods. A few yards away was the lake to where a dock was built.

Ymir wondered if she had the PT boat they used back in the better days.

As they got out, Sasha slammed her truck's door, nearly yelling,"Ya killed Armin!? Are ya insane!? Eren's gonna kill you with all he's got!"

Ymir carried Krista in her arms, she was still bleeding but not as heavily as earlier.

"Does he know you know me?"

"Well, not that I know of, he shouldn't."

"Then we can hole up here."

Sasha tried to protest but Ymir's reasoning won her over reluctantly.

"Get Connie."

Once they settled in, Krista was taken cared of by Connie. As much as she wanted to punt the small idiot, he had a knack for delicate tasks, oddly enough. He took care of her under the barrel of a gun that Ymir rested on the dining table.

A bottle of beer accompanied by Sasha's whetted her throat while the two passed the rest of the night with a smoke.

At one point, Sasha started off slowly,"Ya removed her tracker, right?"

"Yeah," Ymir dryly replied. "Don't worry about the Scouts or anyone getting us."

"...ya care 'bout her, don'tcha?"

"I don't." Her voice was so flat that she opened her eyes wider in surprise.

"Yeah, ya do."

Ymir tried to deny it. "She just has a pretty face-"

Sasha slammed her beer to the table, having been fed up with Ymir's change; Ymir knew it too, she was slowly losing her own set of morality. "Bullshit! Ya didn't tell me that when ya pulled me out of that hell hole! Hell, ya told me I had the ugliest face ya'd seen on a whore but ya still got me out!"

In their teenage years, Ymir found her bound up in the basement of some sick pimp she killed.

Sasha's father had sold her for food back in Shiganshina when rations started taking place. Alone and emaciated, she unfettered her and, ever since, had Sasha as the sole confidant throughout the years. In time, to make up for her own income, Sasha had partnered with Connie to produce meth.

Truth of this came from their backyard lab. It was cheap and easy to make, and to make up for her rescue, she paid Ymir a large sum ever so often but nowadays, after her disappearance, the money ceased to flow.

Favors were her bargaining chip now.

"You're different!" She shot back.

She only saved her out of pity, not whim.

Sasha knew better than her than anyone in this city. She raved,"Ya meet her in the street any other day, ya would'a shot her for kicks, not escort her into the Scout's HQ!"

She wanted her to shut up so much, she hated being figured out; Sasha rarely spoke her mind over her, but with the circumstances of this brought her to do so. They lived in fear of being crashed over the heads with the most powerful army mankind had seen.

Ymir snagged the gun from the table and stormed into Krista's room with Sasha hot at her heels.

She barged open the door to where Connie had just finished treating her and shouted,"Ymir!"

"Move!" Ymir barked, drawing her gun up, Connie scrambled out and shoved by Sasha to grasp her at her shoulders.

He shook her as he cried,"Stop her, what the fuck is she doing!?"

Sasha didn't respond as she looked on.

Ymir stood by the bedside to where Krista was sleeping, a cotton was wedged in her mouth. She undid the safety and pointed it at her temple, ready to fire.

Her hand shook in rage. At this point, she wasn't sticking around Krista for the money; she realized that now. But..why would she do this? Why? She kept asking herself why, what drove her to stick by her.

Sasha's words echoed to her. Yeah, she did grow to care about her, so what?

Holding the gun longer made it feel heavier, she breathed deeply and quickly, the tension telling her to pull it and end it for the girl.

But she clicked the safety and drew the gun away from her head, she held it by her side.

Something in her overpowered her, she couldn't bring herself to kill for the first time in her life.

Sasha broke the silence. "Like I said, ya care about her..."

"...get out," Ymir softly told her, her frustration ready to boil over.

"Ymir, she's gonna get ya killed," she warned gravely.

It wasn't like she didn't know that-

"Ymir...."

"GET OUT!" Ymir roared.

Sasha only closed the door.

Once alone in the room, Ymir rubbed her eyes. Little did she know she had cried. She stared at the small drops of herself, she was crying the entire time. She sniffled, wiped her tears away, but found more to come flowing. She fell to her knees by the bedside, hands going for her head to hold it to keep her from losing her mind.

Throughout the years, the cold steel of guns comforted her. Even as she held it by her head, she let out broken sobs; her body convulsed and she felt ill over this.

She was scared and she didn't know why.


	10. Chapter 10

At the first light of day she found herself laying in a bed in a stuffy room.

In her hand was the gun, though she woke up to it within her hands as though she were embracing it.

She shifted about to feel a body was sleeping by her.

"Tch."

She got up and left for a smoke.

It was the sound of her boots thudding against rotting wood that woke Krista up.

When she let out an agonizing groan, Sasha appeared at the doorway, half-asleep in nothing but panties and a tank top. She yawned as she handed her a couple of pills and a cup. The poor girl had a horrid hangover, after all, Ymir got her smashed. After she downed the medication with slight difficulty, Sasha sat by her side, making sure she was comfortable.

"The light," Krista managed to get out through the cotton.

Sasha obliged by closing the blinds. In the darkness, she watched over her. She let out a long sigh. This girl was pulled into the horrid part of the world, the kind that was near damn impossible to escape. If she had control of life, Sasha wouldn't have been sucked in herself. But life was life.

Ymir was also an example of this as well. If not, she was the epitome of it all.

Slowly she started to ramble. "Krista...I don't know what ya know of Ymir. She's the...most selfish bitch ya'd'ever meet in this world, and not once had I ever seen her considerate for'nother person."

Krista's eyes lazily looked at her. Whatever was going through her head, Sasha didn't know. It had to be something, that look she had it though; she was on the edge of it, her foot was already at the line that divided a bad life from the good life.

"She keeps everyone at a distance, but she's got a story like everyone. She bleeds red too, y'see."

She nodded.

"...but at times, I think of Ymir as a lost girl screaming for help, she wants to be saved yet she had gone too far that she can't tell where to look. Her first reaction is to pull a gun rather than talk, only seventy percent of the time will that work."

Sasha got up, satisfied that she was awake and alert, nothing serious happened and the cotton was replaced.

As she stood at the door, she glanced over she shoulder. "She's looking to ya to save her, though that's yer choice. She's strong, don't expect her to bend for ya too soon."

She closed the door and rubbed her eyes. Upon opening them, she was face to face with the woman of the hour.

"What the fuck is this?" Ymir asked stiffly, she turned heel. "Can you stop feeding her bullshit?"

Sasha followed her, their argument was far from over. "She's nineteen-"

"Yeah, and I was six when I was passed around, age isn't an excuse in this!" Ymir snapped as she raided the fridge. It was empty and she lashed out,"Don't you guys cook anything but meth!? Fuck!"

She slammed the door violently.

Sasha merely handed her a stale beer from a cooler. "Take a minute, ok? Ya ain't the only one who's scared people come knockin' on the door. Gonna go into town, run a few runs. Don't pop yer head out for a while."

Ymir seethed and, once Sasha was gone, she threw the beer out an open window.

Her hands slammed onto the table and she, as suggested, took a minute to think. For once she thought, hard. She paced around the kitchen while burning through four cigarettes, hands ruffling her hair as she contemplated over this, over Sasha's unappreciated notification of her warpath to something out of the ordinary.

Krista was just a girl. A pretty girl. A girl that carried the fucking antivirus that countered a virus meant to destroy all of humanity. Yeah, sure, nothing wrong hanging with her under the gun of two of the world's most powerful factions. No, this was insanity, pure, unadulterated insanity. What the fuck.

"What the fuck," she uttered.

And every time she tried to push her away, she dragged her along.

"Damn it."

Ymir was as scared as she was frustrated. For once she knew being aloof was no way to go. Not this time. It would only get her killed, it would get Krista killed.

Wait.

She paused.

Why be concerned if Krista dies?

_Fuck!'_

"Fuck!"

It wasn't about money now. Maybe it wasn't about the money to begin with...

Her eyes darted left and right, they fell upon a photo from several years ago; it hung on the wall. How did she miss that? There were no decorations to obscure the view of it. Within that picture was herself in her finer days. She sat at the bow of the old PT boat, but to her right she draped her arm around a girl, a nineteen year old; her last client. The thoughts she long thought were below the surface if the Marian Sea rose.

The soft, kind face of the girl haunted her, just like that day of her fatal mission.

Her hair was long and blond, her face was slightly burnt by the sun, though it remained as fair and sweet as Ymir knew her by. Her hand shook as she grabbed the picture off of the wall and stared at it, her fixation so strong that she blocked out the world.

She gripped the beaten frame and, finally, found repose.

She traveled to Krista's room, she didn't bother knocking.

The girl was awake, she was sitting up with a swollen mouth and cotton shoved in her mouth.

She eyed Ymir cautiously, Ymir wondered if she could recall last night but whatever.

They were stuck together.

She sat by her and turned on the lamp next to them. She handed her the picture.

"Listen...I dropped out of the game because of this girl I met before the invasion," she started slowly. "We...were kinda close. Got really close, actually- did Sasha tell you about what happened to her?"

Krista nodded.

Ymir took in a deep breath. "I was working on the Dancing Titan, that boat in that picture. Sasha and I were getting ready to go because we were informed about the invasion last minute. Just as we were shipping off, her father came to the dock. I thought she and her family evacuated but the front lines were often filled with neglected bystanders. I had to go and get them despite Sasha's protests, I told her we were being paid a lot so she bought into it.

"We got down South, got to her part of the city, and gathered them. Thought we were home free for a moment until the enemy came in from a blind spot. I steered the Titan away but the fighting exploded and we were caught in a crossfire between them and the Scouts. Of course, my ship took too much damage and her family were riddled in bullets, all of them dead. I..."

Her voice cracked, she bit her cheek.

"I found her in the hold, still alive and clinging to that baby. I wanted to get her out of there but she insisted to stay with the rest of them. I tried to pull her away but someone blew up what was the rest of us...it all went black and I found myself floating on flotsam. I drifted far enough to where the wooden boat I have now was docked in a safer side of Shiganshina, after that, I made it to Trost. That was it."

Krista's hand ran over the image of the girl, curious about her.

"Point is...in another life, I guess I would have loved her. Would, ok? And I did whatever I could for her, I had a thing for her. She was just like you, she went to school, did well, hardly got into trouble unless it was me. I met her by chance though, she kept getting close to me so I let her get in- I don't want you to end up like her. Because of me, she died. No doubt sticking around me does get you killed- look, I'm going to ask you this one more time.

"...do you want to stay with me?"

She looked up at her. Those blue eyes, once full of hopelessness and fear now held certainty. That look...

She nodded, confident in her decision.

_'What the fuck am I getting into?'_

She sniffled a bit, then extended her hand out to pat Krista on the head.

"Sorry about the...mouth thing," Ymir said sincerely.

She smiled softly and got up.

-...-

Days passed and soon Krista healed perfectly. By a week of quietness in Sasha's home, Krista was able to talk. Within three days, she was walking about. Over this time, it was Ymir who tended to her, she found herself growing fonder of her; at least, she noticed she had done so.

It was one night that Ymir was getting ready for bed that Krista spoke up,"Can you sleep here?"

"With you?" She asked, curious. Krista nodded and patted the empty spot by her, offering it to her.

The insanity of the hard life ebbed away to nothing whenever she entered that room, every hour passed became bliss rather than a tooth extraction, literally. She strode to the bed and laid on it under the worn covers. She kept her distance from her but she was close enough for the girl to reached and touch her hair, to stroke it. By now, Ymir didn't flinch whenever she did that.

They laid next to one another, silent, only gazing at one another.

Soon, her hand undid the clip and allowed her hair to fall from their restraints.

Those dark locks, normally dirty and greasy, were cleaned up for once.

"...can I kiss you?" She asked out of the blue.

Ymir snorted laughter. "You don't have to ask."

She scooted closer to her and pressed her lips against hers. Without warning, it grew heated, her heart skipped and hammered in her head. Her throat became dry but it was Krista who moistened it when her tongue pushed through to dance with her own. Teeth gnashed against one another as Krista's hand pulled her head closer. As quick as it happened, she pulled away.

"You...taste like alcohol and cigarettes," Krista commented suddenly.

"Well, no one appreciated the taste before," Ymir murmured dryly.

"...I appreciate it now, and what it would have been before."

Ymir genuinely smiled, her heart softening for her.

"Go to sleep," Ymir muttered, her face slightly reddening.

Her embarrassment made Krista giggle.

She wrapped her arms around her curling her into her body. She was amazed she fit so well against her, like a puzzle. She nuzzled her face into her hair, her scent was more pleasant than earlier. The sea, always smelled like the sea breeze. Even after a shower, she still held that smell, and Ymir loved it.

The peace she lived now, she grew to value it more than the chaos of Trost.

-...-

The next morning, Sasha awoke to answer the door. She was scared at first but she calmed down at the sight of Bertolts's usual nervous face.

"What's going on?" Sasha inquired.

"Is Ymir here?"

Sasha raised a brow. "Why?"

"We got...we got the girl," he announced,"the one Ymir told Annie to get a hold of."

He threw his chin towards the car to where Reiner sat at the driver's side. He looked beaten, though the exhaustion in Bertolt's face was more heavy. Behind Bertolt, a woman sat with a blindfold and gag in her mouth, there were bruises on her face. After surveying this from her door, she took notice of something else disturbing.

"...where the hell is Annie?"

"That's why I'm here also, I need to cash in a favor from Ymir."

Solace was slipped away the moment he said that, Ymir was being thrown back into the maw of Hell once more.


	11. Chapter 11

"Ymir?"

Ymir groggily opened her eyes. "What have I told you about waking me-"

"They got the woman you wanted," Sasha announced, behind her came the sounds of pained groaning and duct tape being stretched and pulled. A heavy thunk of a wooden chair brought Ymir to reluctantly pull away from Krista; she stretched and scratched her ear. She glanced down at the girl as she too woke up.

"Huh?"

Ymir shook her gently. "Get up."

Sasha retreated back into the hallway, she spoke but her voice was muffled, strangely enough. Ymir left the bed while putting on her shirt, she gave Krista her own and the two left the room together, closely.

In the kitchen she found Reiner sipping on a beer, he pointed one finger and told her,"Got you a gift in the corner."

Her eyes drifted about, then fell upon the woman, Petra, as she was tied to the chair, gagged and bound; her left eye was black and blue, her lip was busted, and her hair was disheveled as much as her once clean suit was. She wearily eyed Ymir, glared at her, and then found Krista; the madness receded as she perked up. Her words drowned away as Bertolt tapped the chair with his foot.

Petra grew silent.

"She's one of my guards," Krista gasped, she drew near her and got to one knee to examine her despite Ymir's protest. "Oh my god, Petra..."

"One of those guys killed Berwick, plus she wouldn't shut up," Reiner explained as he wiped the foam away from his lips. "She's important, thought I'd bring her to you."

"Good job," Ymir praised him, but he held up a hand to stop her.

"We'll give her up if you help us with Annie."

Ymir looked around. Come to think of it, Annie wasn't with them at all. "Where is she?"

"We dunno, she got a hold of Petra for us, said you needed her, then more smoke screens were tossed. Thought she left and we'd meet up, we waited for days but she didn't appear; she's gone now, we need her back. I'd go to Armin for resources, he ain't picking up his phone."

"Easy, I killed him," Ymir admitted with a shrug. "Bastard was working for Scouts. Next best thing is Marco, last I saw him he was hanging with Jean."

Reiner nodded, understanding of his new informant in the world. "We'll go pay him a visit. Here, take her anyway, she might have an idea on how to get Annie back too, use her or something-"

Krista spoke up. "If...if it helps, she's engaged to Levi."

Ymir raised a brow as she clapped hands with Reiner. "Perfect. We got our bait. Consider it done, man."

"Thank you," Bertolt said graciously,"should we get going?"

"Sure, Krista, stay here," Ymir said,"get anything out of Petra for us, anything helpful- don't kill her or hurt her." She turned to Sasha. "Watch them, or you'll wish you're back at Shiganshina's finest red light district."

Sasha feebly laughed. "I hate threats like that."

-...-

Ymir never particularly liked Reiner.

She saw him as a big dumbass, an idiot who can barely tell apart cocktails. His writing his shit, his car was shit, everything about him was shit. But man, he knew how to fight; he and the rest of the workers, Bertolt, Annie, and ex-boss Berwick, were all refugees from the other country, her former home. They kept their birth place quiet but the thirst for blood stemming from their years of fighting made them perfect mercenaries.

She had to respect his sheer strength though she held herself at a higher caliber than him. Before she had done a job with this particular crew, she was utterly surprised to find herself working with them in a tame job through Berwick- other than what she had seen from them, they were just another gang of gunslingers.

They arrived at Jean's dock to find that the door was kicked down. Ymir frowned and got out of the car, a sinking feeling settled in as she shouted,"JEAN! MARCO!"

No answer.

"Smells like a bomb," Bertolt said, grimacing. "You don't think Eren..."

"Sure hope not."

Both men reached for their M500s and followed her into the dock's warehouse.

Inside was a complete mess. Drawers were open, bullets scattered the ground, and Jean's proud collection of engines and guns were on the ground, battered and left to rust. She kicked away a shell casing and went into the open area to where the boats were often kept.

"What about Eren?" Ymir asked, tongue laced with acid.

"You sell women? Boom. You sell meth? Boom. You sell guns? Bigger boom," Reiner explained huskily. "Lucky he didn't go after mercenaries, we aren't touched much since he took control of Berwick's bar."

She traveled to the dock area to find that the wooden wharf was blown to pieces, shattered and ruined. Her anger took over as the only other structure that was destroyed was her ketch. The bow was wrecked and it clung to the posts that protruded from the water, ropes tangled in the splintered structures kept it from drifting away. Fists clenched as she failed to see Jean's PT boat anywhere.

"Add yourselves to the list," she murmured hotly,"that little shit..."

Reiner stood by her for a moment, then turned away, his attention focused elsewhere.

"They probably sailed off," Bertolt speculated. "Rooms are cleared out, storage upstairs is gone too."

Their voices faded away as she drew close to the flotsam of a bow, her hand touched the bowspit; algae had accumulated at the tip. She brushed the green away with her glove and stood by quietly.

"...-mir."

Huh?

"Ymir!"

She glared at Reiner. "What?"

"There's a radio here, can you try to contact him?"

"...radio, yeah, sure," she uttered.

She stood in front of the old radio system, Bertolt handed her the headphone and she began turning nobs for the frequency.

"Dancing Titan to Warmblood. Warmblood, come in. Warmblood. Dancing Titan to Warmbood..."

A few minutes passed, her constant calling was nearly over until a voice popped in, Jean's. _"Warmblood here."_

"Jean, what the fuck happened to my boat!?"

_"It was Eren, he did it. Did you bring the girl to Mitras?"_

"...no, she's with me."

_"I see...we had to leave after he blew up your boat. I saved the bow, sorry about that. We're gonna lay low for a while, not planning on dying any time soon- take what you can find from storage, it's on the house. Huh? What Marco? Oh, right. News has it that the thing the military is trying to contain is spreading fast- I suggest getting out of there soon."_

"I would, but there's shit I gotta do."

_"...y'know, I'm feeling generous today, maybe I'll feel generous the next week- we'll stick around here a bit longer, then we leave."_

"Got it. But...we need Marco."

_"No can do, we're not docking any time soon."_

"Shit..."

_"Good luck with whatever it is. Warmblood out."_

"Well?" Reiner asked as she slammed the headphone onto the hook.

"We'll have to ask Petra," Ymir bitterly replied. "Take whatever supplies you can, Jean's not gonna come back."

-...-

They returned to Sasha's home to find that Krista was speaking to Petra, the duct tape was gone.

Upon entering, Petra grew silent.

"You're back!" Sasha exclaimed.

"Learn anything?"

"She knows how to access the labs, security stuff, everything you need about Reiss Company is right there."

Ymir rolled her eyes and sharply told her,"We're not targeting Reiss now are we?"

"I know how to access the Scouts," Petra tiredly blurted out as a last resort,"I worked as...as an informant for Erwin with Levi when spots couldn't be filled."

"Now we're talking," Ymir said, her mood slightly lightening up. As she pulled a chair up, the sound of a car pulling up outside caught their ears. Sasha craned her head in curiosity and went to the window to check who had come. She peeked between the blinds and her eyes grew wide. "Sasha-"

"Mikasa!" She gasped in fright. "Damn it, Ymir, were ya bein' followed?"

"Not that I knew of," she uttered behind gritted teeth. She glared at Reiner and Bertolt for an answer, each shook his head. She stared at the floor for a moment, trying to figure out how she could have found them. "...shit, the radio may have been wiretapped."

"Guns are out in the car," Reiner pointed out.

"I have a few shotties," Sasha suggested, she disappeared into the hallway as they quickly tried to arm themselves.

Ymir loaded her twin pistols and looked at Krista to find her untying Petra. "Ok, what the fuck are you doing?"

"She's agreed to help me," Krista said earnestly.

"She coulda helped you days ago but here you are!"

"I said I'll help her, not you!" Petra spat. "I wasn't there when they tried to dump her- they didn't let me know of it!"

Sasha returned with two shotguns, she tossed them to Reiner and Bertolt, then proceeded to load her own. "Ya two better go to one side of the house, lay down a suppressive fire if anything happens. She probably got those bombs stored in the back, start somethin'!"

They swiftly sprinted to one end of the home, Bertolt disappeared into the lounge while Reiner took to the bedroom. Once in position, Ymir pointed to the back door. "Krista, I want you to bring Petra out there and stay there- here." She pulled the Glock out and handed it to her. "Only use it when you need it. Shoot to kill, and be sure to not miss this time. Got it?"

Krista nodded and pulled apart the last of the tape, allowing Petra to be relieved of her restraint. She let the woman lean against her and lead her out the back, now to deal with the woman outside.

Sasha stood at the front door, waiting for Ymir.

"She doesn't have Eren with her," Sasha relayed to her.

"She's more passive than him," Ymir recalled as she stepped out.

Mikasa was standing about twenty feet from where she was. Unlike before, she was armed with a Desert Eagle, though she hadn't drawn it. It was her who started,"We know you have the girl."

"And you'd have to get through me if you want her," Ymir goaded,"if you really want her, you shoulda sent the Scouts."

"They wanted me to reason with you."

Sasha stifled down a nervous laugh. Since when was Ymir ever reasonable?

"Blowing up my boat doesn't really help."

"I'm not apologizing for that."

A rush of anger coursed through her, the cheek of this woman! Ymir cocked both of her guns at her, instantly she retaliated by drawing her own. "Then you better start praying, you bitch!"

Instantly, a pair of shotguns rang, the two men from inside aimed at her car. While one shot blew up a tire, another aimed at the trunk, thus igniting a heavy explosion caused by the bombs stored there. Ymir behind a dumpster for cover as Sasha took to hiding behind a neat row of a dozen potato sacks, Ymir threw a glance at her and shouted,"Why the fuck-"

"Don't ask!" Sasha snapped at her.

Ymir shrugged and then peeked around the corner, Mikasa had disappeared after having the explosion divert their attention.

"Reiner! Bertolt!" Ymir yelled as the fire roared into an inferno from the car.

"She's behind the tree, to the right!" Reiner barked.

"Keep her pinned there!"

"Got it!"

Ymir readied herself to leap from her spot, though she wasn't sure how well of a shot Mikasa was. Sure, the girl set off explosions here and there, but then a thought crossed her mind. She froze, she couldn't get anywhere close to her, paranoia had set in. Shit. She could have trapped that area.

She banged her fist against the steel side of the dumpster.

"Scratch that, draw her out!" She exclaimed.

Sasha stood higher on her knee, she started firing, when her shotgun was out, Reiner followed, and the process went over with Bertolt and then back to Sasha. Eventually, from the thicket, Mikasa emerged, firing back at them in turn. She wove between the trees with a speed that nearly frightened all of them, it was almost inhuman to see her fly faster than their bullets.

At this rate, Ymir couldn't pick a clear shot. Trying to follow her was like trying to catch fish with her bare hands, she growled and opened fire anyway.

"Why's she moving too fast!?" Sasha cried.

"I don't know and I don't want to," Ymir huffed under her breath as she reloaded.

A fifth wave of bullets barraged the quick target, but then fire grew slack from the left, from Bertolt.

A groan followed, she shot him but she didn't know if he were dead. Reiner paused for a moment, shouting frantically of a sudden,"Bert-!" but was met by a round from the woman. He went down as well, though a splash of blood splattered over the windowsill.

Shit, she let them shoot to know where they were stationed.

"Sasha, stay down!" Ymir warned her, though the brunette already knew better, she was safely tucked behind a beaten, riddled sack. Ymir watched for Mikasa as she dove behind the inferno of her car, using the billowing black smoke to cover her. The roar of the fire echoed through their ears as metal screeched from within, pieces of it were melting and popping. She called to Sasha once more. "You don't think...she's on those steroids?"

"Steroids? Them things Armin told ya'bout?"

"Yeah, those. Enhanced speed and whatnot, she's probably using them right now."

"And that oughtta help us now because...?"

"I just- SASHA!"

While they were conversing about their confusion, the proof of Armin's research showed it true colors. Mikasa had, within a blink of an eye, rushed to Sasha's spot and opened fire at her. Ymir whirled around the dumpster to get out of her line of sight, she didn't know if Sasha or the others were alive, she clutched her twin guns. It was just her and that bitch.

"Y-Ymir!" Sasha's straggled voice came about in the stilling deathly silence. Ymir froze, trying to see if she heard her voice at all. No use in running, Mikasa would catch her at any moment.

Staying like this any longer would mean Sasha would die- no, she'd die either way. She was waiting for the final shot that would end her. No, fuck it.

Ymir turned by the corner to find Sasha on the ground, blood bled into her shirt as she had taken a hit to her stomach; she was still alive and gasping for air. Pinning her down like a predator, Mikasa had her barrel pressed against the woman's forehead. Ymir's fingers automatically pulled her trigger, the kick of the gun reverberated through her shaking hand but, much to her frustration and growing fear, Mikasa swerved out of the way and dismounted the girl.

Ymir rushed over to Sasha's side, ensured she was still breathing, and ducked once more, unknowing where Mikasa had ran off to.

"You were experimented on by those guys, weren't you?" Ymir shouted. "Made you a speed freak and shit. That's not an easy playing field, y'know!"

No answer.

Ymir stood up.

"I hate it when it gets unfair," she admitted.

Hypocrite, she chuckled under her breath.

She started walking around the front yard. Why wasn't she killing her? She was out in the open, exposed.

She meandered here and there and finally stopped at the front door.

"Damn-fuck!"

A weight fell upon her from above, starting at both her shoulders. Her guns were dropped out of her hands from the collision and she found herself staring down the underbelly of a barrel; she wondered how the hell the woman got up to the roof without a sound, then again, everything was a mystery to her. She glanced to the right, her Beretta was too far from her.

Shit.

"Why?" Ymir let out, finally glaring up at her.

As she was about to answer her, a blond figure stepped up from behind her, Krista.

She looked like a goddess as the light shinned behind her through a broken window, almost like a savior of sorts.

How she sneaked up so quietly, she didn't know, and she prayed to whatever little faith she had left that Mikasa wouldn't turn on her. She bit her lip in anticipation, anxious and apprehensive.

A blast of light blinded her for a moment, that weight that once pinned her down grew limp and dead, unmoving. Mikasa slumped to the side, her arms became loose limbs that fell at her sides. Ymir used her knee to push her off, her breathing hitched as she watched the blood ooze from the back of her head, plastering her black locks to the ground and her face.

She shuddered, then looked up at Krista. She propped herself up by her elbows, her free hand motioned for her to help her up; there was no hesitation in her moves, Krista immediately left her spot and aided her to her feet. She expected the girl to burst into tears, though quite shockingly, she found her simply staring at Mikasa's body.

Ymir placed her hands on her shoulders and gently shook her so that she would look at her. Breathlessly, she called to her,"Krista?"

"Back at the hotel, you told me it's either us or them."

"...what about it?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Krista asked her, finally looking up at her.

Those eyes, brilliant blue and once pure with liveliness, held that sharp look.

She patted her on the shoulder, frowning. "At least you didn't miss."

Her heart tugged for some reason; the debt of pulling her out of the water was fulfilled at this. This was true payment. One other than money that Ymir understood. But at the cost of this came with the girl bloodying her hands.

"...Krista, don't ever-uh, ever, don't ever do that again," Ymir uttered as she regained her breath.

"Why not? Staying with you, we'll end up watching over each other, and it'll happen again and again."

"Um, yeah, but you're not like me-"

Krista brushed off her hands; Ymir went to fetch her guns. "You're right, I'm not. And I can't be-"

An agonizing groan from the potato sacks brought their attention back to Sasha as she bled freely. She was sharply taking in air, her hand had torn into her shirt to create a makeshift cloth to stop the bleeding though she was failing miserably. As she struggled, Ymir knelt by her side and examined the wound.

"We need Connie for this," Ymir murmured.

"He's...he's in town, still doin' a run. Should be back soon- ah, damn it, this fuckin' hurts!"

She pressed the cloth deeper against her.

Ymir called to Krista,"Just try and keep the hole closed as best you can, I'll check on the guys."

She found Bertolt unconscious, his temple was merely grazed, nothing serious though she supposed he passed out from shock. On the other hand, Reiner had taken one to the shoulder, he was sitting against the wall, a towel wrapped around his forearm. Damn, they were alive after all. Part of her wished they were dead so that she wouldn't have to be burdened with fetching Annie- wait.

How would she go about explaining Mikasa's death?

Armin was just, well, Armin, but Mikasa was much more intimate with the Scouts.

Various scenarios rushed through her mind.

"Ymir," Reiner said, breaking her train of thought, she glanced at him,"put out the fire out there, it's a fucking smoke signal to everyone."

"And you?"

"Just do it," he urged her. "Is Bertolt alright?"

"Fine as ever," she replied. "Even if I put out that fire, they're gonna send people over here. You got a place we can hide at?"

He gave a curt nod. "West side, I got a trailer-"

"Some place more sanitary, please?"

He scoffed. "Bertolt's place, it's an apartment on that side too."

She helped him to his feet after wrapping another towel around his arm. She guided him to Sasha's truck, then went to haul Bertolt next to him in the back. Sasha, as well, had to be carried, she was still conscious but she needed attention more than the other two. Once they were loaded, she went to fetch the guns from Reiner's car, after doing so she turned to Krista to find her staring at Mikasa's body, Petra emerged into the light herself.

"You did this?" Petra asked quietly.

"...yeah, this was mine," Krista replied, Ymir stopped at the corner, listening to them.

"Krista...I can't say sorry enough to you about this, about what was happening to you. I want to make up for what I've done- if it comforts you, I always wished you lived a normal life."

Krista nodded it off. "Things happen."

"...I see, let's go then."

As they stepped off of the porch, Ymir walked ahead of them.

Once Petra was seated in the back, the bed of the truck, Ymir approached her. She made a gesture to lean over and she did; with a clenched fist, she threw a punch into Petra's jaw, causing her to cry out in shock and pain. She flew back, groaning.

"That is for Krista. She trusted you people and then you hurt her...damage's been done so quit apologizing," Ymir told her.

She sat in the driver's seat and started the car, amazingly Krista didn't protest. Instead, she swore she heard her utter,"Thank you."

"No problem, Blondie."

It was more for herself than for Krista, punishment brought down to traitors was a rare treasure in this life.

-...-

She returned in one piece. An AK-47 and five clips ready for use, she felt a bit more comfy in her hole. However, as she returned to her usual station before the computer screens, she found one flashing in red, an indication that someone had perished. She pressed the screen and witnessed the fight ensued between Mikasa and the others; this was valuable footage as test subjects were hardly observed in action.

She sat back, amazed at what the fruits of her labor had borne her.

Even without the virus, the steroids injected into her were just enough to create a human with amazing agility.

The woman with freckles, Ymir, she was just about ready to meet her end; seeing her face glaring up at the screen, to Hanji, sent shivers down her spine.

She was disarmed, helpless, what went wrong?

Why did the screen go black?

Hanji sat there, confounded.

Someone must have taken Mikasa down.

Could it have been Project Historia?

As her mind wracked over the possibilities, she reached for the phone and watched the reordered footage again from Mikasa's eyes.

The other end picked up within seconds.

"Levi...Project Prodigy has been eliminated, proceed with releasing Project Rogue, please collect the body at the following location..."


	12. Chapter 12

"Ah-ah-ah-ah-careful!"

"Stop whining, this isn't the first time I've done it," Ymir sighed as she readied the medical pliers.

They arrived at Bertolt's apartment; it was a comfy suite in the nicer side of Trost. The families lived there in peace, a place where Bertolt thrived. With all the money collected from his jobs, he had better saving habits than Reiner. On the fourth floor overlooking a cliff that gave a full view of Trost, Ymir envied him but now, as they used it as a base to lick their wounds, it had become a makeshift hospital.

Reiner had his bullet extracted cleanly but had passed out piss drunk to cover the pain, Ymir didn't need to hear his shitty voice and she was glad he was out. Bertolt on the other had, patched himself up once he woke up upon their arrival. He had a few drinks as well but he had to restrain himself to help Sasha as she laid upon his glass dining table.

Towels stained in blood littered the floor, Krista had taken to sitting at the kitchen bar to avoid watching the painful procedure. With no word from Connie, Ymir had taken it upon herself to aid Sasha.

Bertolt stood at the head of the table, his hands keeping Sasha's arms locked in place.

"If she moves, hold her down," Ymir instructed.

"C-can't we get me hammered or somethin'?!" Sasha cried helplessly. "Ya gave Krista time to get drunk!"

"She didn't have metal lodged in her stomach that time, did she?"

Ymir rolled her eyes and fetched a gag from the medical kit.

"Better bite," she warned her as Bertolt shoved the rubber bar into her mouth.

She used her arm to pin down Sasha's chest, she dove in.

Sasha keened and thrashed, it wasn't helping at all.

Moments of agonizing screams passed, and soon the bullet was pulled out in one piece. Blood poured profusely but Ymir quickly cleaned her up, stitched her, and cleaned her hands at the sink. Sasha huffed and gasped, the gag fell out of her mouth as she relaxed on the table. Bertolt took care of the rest while Ymir fetched a bottle of rum to soothe her nerves.

"You're fucking welcome," Ymir told her as she took several sips.

"Yeah, yeah," Sasha said as she was picked up and carried to one of the three guest rooms.

Once she was gone, the sound of Reiner's snoring filled the room.

"Man, I hate being doctor," Ymir stated as she sat next to Krista.

The bottled thunked lightly upon the wooden counter, Krista immediately reached for it but Ymir stopped her by taking it away.

"Don't. Just talk to me sober."

Krista withdrew her hand.

"...how'd it feel?"

"Which? Everything happening?" Krista finally spoke.

"You know what I meant, killing her."

Krista paused to find her words, Ymir drank a bit more.

"I...I...I don't really know. But if it- no, when it comes to that, I'll do it again for you."

Ymir brought a hand to her back, she rubbed the back of her neck. "I gotta be thankful for it. Hadn't had anyone cover for me before, never really thought you could actually do it-"

"Ymir, I killed someone for you."

"And she didn't have much waiting for her. Do you think anyone in this room has family to answer to? To have a home of love to come back to? To have anything to protect? The same applied to her, she was just another number to the Scouts. Don't bullshit yourself into thinking you got something left in this world."

Her loose tongue got the best of her, for Krista snapped at her.

"I'm not like the people in this room because...I got someone to come to and protect, I can't do much but I'm willing. You aren't like anyone here anymore. You wouldn't have picked a fight with Mikasa if I were nothing to you."

Krista finally faced her.

"How about you don't bullshit yourself into thinking you have nothing, you have me and I have you. Simple."

Ymir froze with the bottle's lip on her mouth. Huh, now that she thought of it...

She laughed softly,"That mentality, it's gonna get you killed, gonna get me killed, and if one of us dies, what do we have left in this world then? Death is real, I've given it and you just gave it a near damn two hours ago."

"It won't come to that, promise," Krista said, determined. She got up and strode to the glass wall that had an open view to Trost, she pointed at the sea to where the sun had sank midway through the sky. "Beyond that, other than war, is a life waiting to be lived. I...I want to go beyond that and live for myself."

Ymir went over to her, bottle still at hand. "That's a nice dream you got, Blondie. But I'm short of a boat to get us there." A thought hit her. "Wait, Jean said he'll pick us up in a week."

"Then when we survive that long, we go." She drew close to her, voice filled with hope. "My life and yours here, it'll just be a dream when we cross that ocean. We'll go far away, from here and that other place, we'll live something new and be happy- that's all you ever wanted, right? Being free of this, you told me last night how much you wanted to leave this place."

"Yeah, I did."

"Why hadn't you gone earlier?"

Ymir shrugged. "Never had the motivation. Besides, what the point of going there? I'll fall back into the way I am now, no use, right?"

"Not with me, you'll be living for once in your life, I'll show you how to do it."

She barked out a laugh. "And how do you know how to live?"

Krista smiled, abashed by her. "I guess you're right about that, but I can show you how to live on the other side of the tracks."

"You're pretty funny, Blondie. I've been born and raised on this side, you've only had a taste of it- I'd prefer you keep away from being consumed-"

"Which is why I want to go far."

Running away.

Running for a new life, to be reborn.

A second chance at life.

Again, Ymir never put much thought about it but, as the girl proposed her tall-tale plan, Ymir felt herself being more convinced that she could, indeed, leave behind this life for a better one. She'd be lacking cash and the usual riot but she wouldn't be alone. Krista could never live in her world, not without a bullet to the head- Ymir could never live in Krista's either but she could try.

Try.

Just try.

It was the rum getting to her but the idea fascinated her more than any cordial she could find.

"When this is over...we'll live together," Ymir said, words falling from her mouth so suddenly that she even shocked herself. "Just you and me."

"You and me," Krista repeated reassuringly.

Ymir stooped low to deliver a kiss to the crown of her head.

The incessant snoring from Reiner dampened the mood, Ymir laughed once again and placed the bottle onto the coffee table- she picked up Krista and, in the midst of her buzzed state, took her to an empty bedroom to where another glass wall looked out onto the city. She didn't care if it were Bertolt's room, she didn't really care what she was doing, but she did care about the person she held.

As she entered the room, Krista pecked her chin.

"Hey," Ymir warned her playfully as she closed the door behind her.

"Hey what?"

"You know."

"Nah."

Ymir found herself genuinely smiling. She didn't know why she smiled. She was slightly drunk.

Left foot, right foot, whoops.

She stumbled and tossed Krista to the bed, smooth. She leaped in after her, caging her with her arms and legs; she leaned in to kiss her, lips dancing along with hers as Krista worked to get her tank-top off. She pulled it over her head, only breaking the kiss to let it slide between them. Her small hands roved over her back, caressing her skin.

Over the numerous scars she traced them with the tips of her fingers, eliciting a shiver to go up Ymir's spine and inject her with a warm feeling in her head. Their lips locked once more as Ymir traveled down to the hem of her shirt, going under the skin to reflect her soft touches to her waist. She lifted her up so that her shirt could join her tank-top on the floor.

Her white bra was laced with small frills around the edges; it was one of those expensive ones.

"Cute," Ymir grunted for a moment, she stooped her head low to taste her neck.

Krista groped at her breast in response as she softly groaned, a fire sparked and grew into a blazing inferno that radiated throughout her body. A blush smeared across her freckled face as her hands worked to undo the clasp of her bra. Krista pushed Ymir back, forcing herself atop her this time; Ymir didn't mind. Once those breasts were exposed, she grasped at Krista's ass and brought her further up to tentatively lick at a nipple.

Krista gasped at the sudden contact, she squeaked when Ymir brought her knee up to press against her center. She felt Krista drag herself against her knee; they had done this before but Ymir could already feel that they were going to go further. No Sasha to interrupt them, no fire from Connie to alert them, and no damn freak was there to knock down their door.

She felt safe for now, she wanted to relish this for as long as she could but a part of her yearned for things to happen in the future. Where here dreams become a reality.

Her knee dropped and so did her hand as she reached low to the hem of her shorts.

She undid the button and zip, she watched Krista shuck out of her shorts and noticed that she wasn't wearing her panties. Ymir didn't question her, she loved efficiency. Krista leaned back and sat up upon her knees, her body open for show; her skin was white and clean, free of any scars compared to Ymir's beaten body. The only imperfection came from the scars on her forearm; the marks of her years of lies.

With her free hand, she reached to grab the scared arm; she gently kissed them, tender.

"How sweet," Krista murmured.

"We'll forget about them," Ymir promised her as her other hand felt the wetness between her legs. Damn, she was soaking her index.

She fiddled with her clit, Krista shuddered above her and bit at her lip in anticipation. Her hips moved on their own accord, forcing those fingers to sink in. She hissed at the intrusion she brought upon herself; there was nothing blocking her, much to Ymir's surprise.

"You touched yourself before?"

"M-hm," Krista let out as she nodded.

Feeling her pulsate around her, envelop her in a burning fire, it was the most arousing thing Ymir had ever felt. Not once had those other girls got her going, not once had they made her want to fuck in earnest. Well, it shouldn't be considered fucking, it was beyond that. Something more, there were emotions involved here. What was the word for it?

She shrugged it off as she let in a second finger, scissoring them and stretching her out, then curling them, turning them; Krista's knees tensed around her waist as her eyes closed. Every so often she'd let out a lewd sound, a gasp every time she went deeper, a moan whenever she slid those fingers in and out of her. Her thumb went to her clit to rub against it, slowly.

No use in going fast, she wanted to enjoy this herself.

Krista rocked her hips against her, eventually picking up on the steady rhythm. She fell forward over Ymir, eyes sealed shut as Ymir shoved her fingers against her, harsher than before. She meshed their lips together as she groaned deeply, her erratic movement growing tense before she closed in all around Ymir's fingers, palpitating gloriously while shuddering.

She didn't scream, maybe she wasn't much of a screamer, then again, her kiss slackened as she sank against Ymir's bare stomach. Her chest heaved and took deep breaths to recover from the rush. Ymir withdrew her hand from her and wiped it against the sheets. She then brushed away the loose strands that had fallen over her face or plastered against her skin.

"...I needed that," Krista whispered, her content obvious.

"We all do," Ymir chuckled.

She was about to wrap her arms around her but she had suddenly reigned in control and traveled down, her hands working at her buckle.

"You don't wanna rest?" Ymir suggested, head craning.

Stupid. Of course she didn't, she wanted to keep going.

Without a word, Krista leaned forward to press a kiss onto the broad tattoo that marked her past. Her tongue traced against the feathers, a painful reminder was being licked away. A wound that was waiting to be treated. Something melted in her and she dropped her head back to look at the ceiling; her jeans were taken off, along with her thong.

"Didn't take you to wear this," Krista jokingly told her as she pulled the thong off and tossed it to Ymir.

"Fuck off or fuck me already," Ymir growled when it landed upon her face. She tossed it over the bed.

Distracted by the thong, she didn't pay attention to Krista lowering her face to her; she felt her breathing against her cunt. It was her turn to tense, apprehensive and impatient for what was to come. Krista settled herself there, she shoulders spreading Ymir's legs apart, she pressed her mouth against her, lips curling every so often as her wet tongue lapped against her.

Her stomach churned as she felt teeth brush against her.

She dared to glance down to see that Krista was staring back at her, those blue eyes weren't pretty, they were fucking hot. Her hand shot to her head to intertwine with those golden locks, she reveled at feeling her tongue tease her, then go in; she bucked her hips against her, she didn't have control over that. She then felt the tip teasing her clit, flickering atop it, licking all around, she sucked.

Damn, that drove her mad.

She keened deeply and arched her back, her other hand grasped at the sheet tightly.

"Fucking hell!" She muttered behind gritted teeth.

She felt an intrusion of fingers that instantly thrust into her vigorously.

God fucking dammit.

She moved her hips in accordance with her and soon, she felt herself reeling over to the edge.

Once more she dared to glance down at her, those eyes.

They held so much promise, hope.

For once love wasn't sold out.

She flung herself over and entered a high that was damn near impossible to go down. As she went on, she could still feeling Krista against her, she could still hear her sucking greedily, loving it more than anything. She clenched around her fingers, she felt every single muscle wrapped around them. This whole euphoria was new to her despite being old, she soon fell and collapsed against the bed, sweat doused and satisfied.

Krista moved up to her, propped herself on one arm, and licked away at her own fingers.

"You taste way more different than booze and cigarettes there," she said hotly.

"It'd take talent to do that there," Ymir huffed.

She finally pulled her into an embrace, lazily kissed her, and faded into the lazy haze of the afternoon sun.

Was this what being alive was like?

-...-

Petra was stored in a storage closet.

Ymir had taken full custody over her and, like anyone, didn't trust her enough to let her roam free. In the late evening, she left Krista though she took a moment to wrap a blanket over her.

She went into the hallway and opened the door; the woman was blindfolded, bound, and gagged. She undid the restraints around her feet and picked her up by the collar to drag her outside.

Reiner was still sleeping in the loft, undisturbed, and Sasha and Bertolt hadn't emerged, the sun was gone.

There was a patio in Bertolt's flat, she tossed her to the floor, pulled out a chair, undid the gag, and sat in it backwards, cigarette in hand.

Below them, Trost lit up like a light show, streets were lined with lamps, buildings were made known through their own illumination, and the cars moved aimlessly, unending; the city was alive at this time. No matter how Ymir looked at it, she hated this place.

"Now, start talking to me," Ymir ordered.

"You're such an animal," Petra spat.

"Anything new?" She sneered.

Petra faced her, her teeth bit at her lip in anger.

"About what's happening. No doubt Reiner tried to beat you for Annie, he, Reiner, and her pretty close from what I know of."

No response.

"What happens if you come into the Scout's building?"

"I get in without question, they know my face."

"Alright. Good. If those guys were to take hostages, where do they keep them?"

"Pool house on the East wing, they torture people in the water."

Ymir nodded and flicked away the ashes.

"Your friend's not important so security will most likely be light," she added.

"Uh-huh."

In her mind, she was formulating a plan. She could send Petra in, let her distract the Scouts, while Ymir herself sneaked in with Bertolt, take care of the guards, take Annie, and leave. A clean job, fast and smooth, something she'd like. If Sasha was up for it, she could be the getaway driver, if not, Ymir could improvise.

Her train derailed when Petra suddenly spoke,"What's the day today?"

"Monday."

"Krista will need her injection soon."

Ymir's brows creased. "Huh?"

"Doctor Hanji, the head researcher, always ran check-ups on her. I've been with the girl since she was born- she's had a weak heart, always."

"Bullshit, Levi said-"

"Forget about Levi and just listen to me."

Ymir frowned, her lips curled unpleasantly as she bit the butt of her cigarette.

"The stuff Hanji injects her, it keeps her heart pumping for a given amount of time, that period was extended to two weeks by now. Those steroids, the drug, is what keeps her alive; without it, her heart will give out and she's dead. Think of it as insulin for a diabetic."

Not one bit of Petra's words did Ymir enjoy. She rubbed her eyes and asked her in a tired voice,"Where can I get the drug?"

"In the labs, I can get you there. Third level, underground in Kingston. I know the procedure on how to do it, how to get in, how everything goes- free security clearance."

"So I get the drug, we get that in Krista, and she'll be fine."

"You'll need a steady supply though."

"Sasha can cook something up from it."

Petra nodded. "I'm...sorry you have to know this. Right now she's fine, right? No shallow breathing? No fainting?"

"Nah, she's fine," Ymir said, though worry began to sink in. She got up and picked Petra up by the collar. "You help us out, I don't kill you, good?"

"Of course you'd say that, else I wouldn't be telling you this," Petra pointed out.

Ymir undid the blindfold and tape that held her hands together.

She was free now, her hands rubbed at her wrist and eyes. Making friends with a former enemy, one she didn't trust Krista to associate herself with, was something she never dreamed of, never.

She offered her a cigarette, she gratefully took it and breathed deeply, her eyes closing as she leaned against the railing of the patio to gaze over Trost.

Ymir lit herself a new one, snuffed her used one, and shared a moment of silence with her.

Everything good in life came at a price, she almost forgotten that hours ago.

"We only got forty-eight hours left," Petra reminded her.

Ymir's fist came into contact with the bar as she clenched her eyes closed. "Fuck rushed jobs."


	13. Chapter 13

An individual couldn't be in two places at once.

They burned through the night smoking and speaking terms and ways to access the Scout's HQ and Reiss Company's research facility. Two hours apart these two places were, just two hours. It sounded better to split into two groups and infiltrate both to finish the job quickly, but security measures in both needed one person. Hours passed and the moon shifted in the sky.

Ymir was perhaps on her seventh cigarette, she lost count.

"...the facility requires visual identification, my hand print and my eye," Petra explained.

"And the Scouts want a full body."

"With the way they are apart, we should pick Annie up first, leave, and then head to Kingston- there is an issue though."

Ymir groaned.

"Before Auruo and Erd attempted to kill Krista, there was a breach in security. The specimens kept in the holding cells were released and all hell broke loose down there- not sure about them being contained, we had to take action as protocol. In the event a-" She chose her word carefully. "-release of these things, we were instructed to get rid of Krista by any means necessary."

The mentioning of this caused Ymir to grind her teeth. Any means necessary? She turned her back to the railing and leaned against it, she stared up at the night sky. "Why kill her if she's the cure? She's got the immunity for it, you can produce more and-"

"Krista's human, she has thoughts and feelings. A dead body doesn't have that to run once they learn about betrayal."

"That still doesn't make sense to me."

Petra shrugged. "The logic in this life is so poor, I know."

Ymir ruffled her hair, she loosened it to think. "Alright, what about those specimens?"

"Ever seen The Walking Dead?"

"Andrea's a bitch."

Petra lightly laughed and lowered her voice. "We were trained to aim for the head. Sever their spines too. Anything that breaks the connection between the brain and the body will do it."

"Sounds easy-"

"But there's a thing. They were injected with the same steroids Krista had been given. Enhanced speed, strength, and aggression are usually the effects; usually it's one of the three, sometimes there are two, or all."

"Like Mikasa. Speed demon, that bitch."

Petra leaned back and nostalgically told her,"Oh, Project Prodigy. Hanji made sure to boost her speed, she's faster than the usual three classes:

"For the Runners, we call them that, we take them down from a distance before they see us. Tanks, those with strength, are pretty slow but they can deal a lot of damage. Take them down from a distance. The aggressive ones are known as Fighters, they're just violent; melee can be done to them. Those with a mix of them are known as Abberants.

"They can infect other people by biting them or exchanging fluids through wounds or the mouth, so don't let them get close. You won't get the enhanced abilities, you just become a zombie."

"You ever fought one?"

"Hm...my first day being there, a Runner specimen broke out. Killed some guy, they wanted me to experience how to deal with them first hand. I didn't take it on, it was Levi, it was pretty quick too," she said with a shudder. "His aim was amazing, only took him down with a Desert Eagle."

Ymir nodded. A marksman that was able to take down a Runner was impressive to her; she couldn't land a clear shot on Mikasa...now that she thought of it, not one of her bullets grazed her. Ymir scoffed under her breath, getting into a fight with Mankind's Strongest was the worst fate she could be deal with.

Never fuck with the Scouts.

Got it.

"That's what I have to deal with in there," Ymir said thoughtfully, Petra nodded. "Are there anymore Projects out there?"

"There was Project Prodigy. Then there's Project Historia. There's a third one, Project Rogue. These are children that have been infected with both the virus and also given the drugs in a complicated combination, both of which are monitored closely; Scouts obtained Prodigy and Rogue through Hanji, Reiss Company kept Historia. Other than these three on file, there's no one else that has been tampered with as far as I know of."

"Alright...c'mon, let's wake up the others."

-...-

Tuesday morning.

Less than twenty-four hours.

Ymir therapeutically counted the bullets in her magazine for the third time before loading them into her gun; she repeated the process once again. Her thoughts bounced from every metal shell to the next, how she left Krista asleep in bed when they decided to leave that morning. Only a day to finish this, just a day. How much could be accomplished was beyond her wildest dreams.

She and Sasha the back of Sasha's pick-up, Bertolt and Reiner were in the back seats, hancuffed, gagged, and blindfolded. The shell of the back covered them from the view; the only light that came to them was a small camping lamp. They laid on their stomachs (Sasha rested upon a pillow to cushion herself), surrounding them were the guns that kept them armed.

"Yer doin' it," Sasha pointed out, Ymir had thought she was asleep. The sudden sound of her voice startled her, causing her to drop a bullet into the groove of the floor.

"Doing what?" Ymir snarled as she took the bullet back.

"Ya count bullets when ya know yer going to lose."

"I don't need you to say that to me."

Sasha winced and groaned painfully when the truck went over a bump.

"And you coulda stayed at Bertolt's."

"I'd like to see this through- hey, did ya say anything to Krista?"

Ymir's eyes flashed to her, but she didn't say anything.

"So...she don't know nothin'," she lowly concluded.

"Nothing, it's better that way."

No further exchanges were made.

Sasha turned off the lamp, thus bringing them into darkness. As the truck rolled along the highway, Ymir's eyes fell heavy. The lack of sleep finally caught up to her, she slowly drifted in and out of the world; the only thing tethering her were the bumps Petra would drive over every so often but those became muffled feelings. Soon, she was out and back on the sea.

The Marian Sea, where she sailed aboard her wooden ketch.

At the bow, Krista sat there like a dog in a moving vehicle. The excitement she held in those brilliant blues filled Ymir's chest with warmth, was this what dreams really were?

Somewhere in her head, Linda Ronstadt's sweet song came playing about, she hummed along to the _"Blue Bayou"_ , then heard herself singing it. When was the last time she sang? Damn, living never felt so fucking good.

They sailed on in the ocean, free of the troubles, free of the little time Krista had left, free of everything.

She smiled brightly as her hands held the wooden wheel.

_'I want to go on like this.'_

But the world came into an abrupt halt.

It ended with her head slamming against the front end of the truck bed. She groaned painfully and found herself in the darkness once more with a hand over her mouth; the scent of meth and beer, Sasha.

"Shush," she heard Sasha.

They had arrived. She could hear voices from the outside.

"...killed Mikasa..."

Petra.

"...hold them."

"Good work, Petra."

...Levi.

"The others...didn't make it, forced to terminate them."

"Oh, Auruo..."

"Come...report to the Commander."

Their voices became clear as Ymir regained proper hearing.

"Say, did you catch the blond woman?"

"Of course. She's in the pool house."

The voices drifted away with footsteps. The echoes of their shoes against concrete faded into nothing, they were left alone.

Ymir shifted around in the bed, she turned to reach for the small latch at the other end. She pulled it, then slowly lifted the top to scope out the place; they were in the basement garage, clear of anyone. Perfect. She hoisted herself up and, as planned, she closed the top over Sasha. She had armed herself to the teeth now, her guns were tucked neatly in their holsters.

She drew both of them and, while screwing on her silencers, made her way to the stairs to where a map was nailed behind a glass case.

The pool area was across the lobby, opposite of the elevators that led to the penthouse.

Just sneak in there, take Annie, and meet up Petra within an hour.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, being riddled with bullets was an option.

Being captured and tortured was another.

Goddamn.

-...-

Krista awoke with a pain in her chest.

"Uhn...Ymir?"

She lacked clothes, though waking up with few was considered normal by now. She grunted and shifted about, hoping for the pain to subside, but it grew heavier, sharper. As it grew worse, she found herself groaning, hand clutching over her heart.

Her breaths became shallow and quick, it became a struggle to take in a single pint of air.

What...what was this?

"Ymir...?"

-...-

The sharp sound of a bullet ripping through the barrel resounded in her ears, following that came the dead thud of a man standing out guard at the doors.

She shoved him behind a trashcan and out of sight.

Within the grand pool house was a large pool that spanned several dozen yards, stretching pretty far back with a plethora of botanic decorations to mimic a jungle paradise. Ymir craned her head in confusion at the grandeur but pressed on, walking between the trees. When she finally reached the pool itself, the lone person she found tied to a pole on an island in the middle of an oasis of sorts was Annie.

There were stepping stones that led to her, Ymir crossed over to her and squatted to be at eye level with her.

She took note of her bloodied mouth and tousled, wet hair, she had been tortured but not as much as Ymir was expecting.

"Ay, Annie," Ymir hissed, nudging her temple with her knuckles. "Ay, wake up. Annie."

Her eyes drifted open, she looked up at Ymir, a sense of relief came over her as she slackened her hold on the chains that kept her arms up high. "I never thought I'd live to be happy to see you for once."

"Shut the fuck up, I'm only here because of Reiner and Bertolt," Ymir explained as she shot off the locks that held the chains in place.

Annie's hands retracted, she rubbed at her wrists.

"Sorry 'bout taking too long to get here, just yesterday those two told me you were here."

"Oh, I don't mind."

The sarcasm.

Ymir rolled her eyes. "Anything happen?"

"Drowned is all, punched a few times, I'm good though."

"Great," Ymir said as she handed her a knife. "Sasha's in the getaway-" She checked her watch. "Got five to meet up with them all. Only kill when needed, I done in one guy."

"Idiot," Annie murmured.

"He ain't coming up soon."

They glided through the grand halls, avoiding the patrols every so often.

Ymir peered behind a corner to see four men escorting what appeared to be Reiner and Bertolt.

"Great, makes it easier," Ymir muttered. She turned back to Annie. "Stay put."

Annie nodded and crouched by her legs.

She took a moment for them to advance closer, she then whirled about and shot all four escorts, killing them effectively. Annie dashed out and searched them for the keys to undo the cuffs around her coworkers' hands. Once freed, Bertolt embraced her, muttering something, but Ymir pushed by them, breaking them apart.

"This ain't over, where's Petra?" She demanded gruffly.

"She'll be coming out soon, just had to give her last report to Levi. Shit," Reiner lowly said as he glanced at the dead men. "Thought we wouldn't be alive by now."

"I was hoping you wouldn't," she murmured as she lead them around.

They traveled swiftly but Annie's disheveled look drew some attention from guests while they went through the lobby. With no one pursuing them, they safely reached the garage without incident. Once there, Ymir opened the flat top and aided Sasha in getting out, the woman was awake and well, though she staggered her breath every so often. Ymir reached into the supply trunk and tossed Bertolt the first aid kit.

"Fix her up if she needs it," Ymir instructed. She was tense, she was waiting for those doors to open and a sea of ex-military to come hailing bullets upon them. She drew out a cigarette and smoked, in the reality, she was hoping Petra would come out sooner; they had only twelve more hours.

She paced around before sitting herself upon the floor by the wheel.

Sasha went to the wheel and turned on the radio.

'Hermiha has been placed under quarantine. All roads to the district are closed off. Mitras is also under quarantine. All roads to the district are closed off. Transit has been shut down. Evacuation of outer towns are under way. Refuges are available at Karanese...'

"Good to hear them keeping it contained," Ymir huffed.

"Is Trost quiet?" Annie asked.

"Quieter than Ymir and that little girl," Sasha laughed.

Ymir rolled her eyes and Bertolt and Reiner chuckled.

"Little girl?" Annie sounded disgusted yet intrigued, it was the most intense emotion Ymir had seen by far from her.

The thought of Krista bothered her. Was she alright? What if she decided to leave?

Damn, she should have left a note.

Why didn't she leave a note?

The buzz of the radio's broadcasting filled the parking lot as they waited.

Soon, the door opened, Ymir immediately got to her feet, hands on the handles, but much to her utter joy it was Petra who came alone, though she was rushing for the truck. Upon her front was blood, whatever happened didn't look too good; everyone else lunged for their seats in alarm.

Petra began frantically,"They found five bodies in the pool house, Ymir, what did I-?"

"Had to be done, c'mon," Ymir snapped. "You're one to talk!"

"Just drive, Braus!"

-...-

"Road's closed to Mitras, what now?" Sasha asked when they came upon ungodly traffic. They had parked at an overpass that overlooked the cars leaving Mitras, a drive that was meant to be ten minutes from where they stood. Seeing the mess made them step out to catch their breaths and rethink their strategy.

"Take the back roads," Ymir suggested as she looked over at the sun that was setting all too quick for comfort.

They were quiet, Ymir sat at the edge of it all, her anxiety had kicked in and she was back to counting bullets.

"Why not take the water?" Reiner said out of the blue. "You and Sasha can pilot, right?"

"Sure'd help if Eren hadn't fucking blown up my boat," Ymir scoffed. She tossed a dangerous glare to Petra. "How's the fucker holding up?"

Petra cleared her throat and walked over to her. "They retrieved the bodies of Mikasa and Armin when I was there, not a pretty sight. When Eren saw, he...he went ballistic, Levi had to put him down. His aggression levels increased tenfold, he ended up tearing off Erwin's arm in the scuffle." She gestured to her bloodstained shirt as she had removed her coat earlier. "Project Rouge has been...terminated."

No sympathy there, each of them didn't favor the man.

"Then Project Historia is the last one alive," Ymir concluded. "Well, those two were just weapons, we got the solution and that's more important. A gun is useless if it doesn't have a trigger to pull."

"Ymir," Petra started,"why do you want to keep her alive?"

Ymir glared harder at her. Was the woman shitting her? The answer was obvious yet...she couldn't exactly say it. Her eyes softened and she ceased counting her bullets. Her shoulders relaxed but she couldn't tell her.

Bertolt's voice came cutting through as he had left a few minutes before to investigate the river that was nearby- it was a channel that cut through the country, the Sina River. It was fairly large to where shipments from Trost made their way to Mitras. Laying parallel to the highway, Ymir really did wish she had her boat at the very least.

"I found us a PT boat, everything is operational!" He called to them, he was running. "We can take the river back to Trost after."

"You mind leaving your truck?" Ymir asked Sasha.

She hesitated to speak, then shook her head. "Ya'll guys can go on ahead, I'll turn back."

"Sounds good, check on Krista and try to radio in Jean, tell him he doesn't need to come back for us; think I'll take this thing home."

"Call me up when ya need a ride, PT boat's gotta have a radio."

They clapped their hands together in agreement and the rest hitched a ride. Sasha seemed ready to pass out but her spirits were lifted at the thoughts of returning home. She drove them to the small docks at the bottom of the bridge and, as they unloaded their supplies, Sasha whistled to Ymir to approach. Ymir did so, wondering what she wanted.

"Ya made it this far, pretty impressive given who ya are," Sasha stated, Ymir scoffed and rolled her eyes, then ruffled her hair. "Whatever shit's goin' on, be careful to count yer bullets."

Don't run out, make every shot count.

Don't lose your shit, just get going.

"Got it," Ymir softly replied.

She slapped on the door of her truck, prompting Sasha to speed off and away, leaving them in the dust.

"Ymir, let's get this over with!" Reiner called to her.

She ran down the docks, untied the PT boat, and went under the deck to where Petra was at the controls. The other three opted to stay above deck to keep a look out, giving Ymir the silence she wanted. She lit a cigarette and began to run checks on the system, she remembered Petra was there and then instructed her,"Go to the hold and get to the radio room, monitor everything that's going on."

"Sure thing," Petra complied to as the engine roared to life.

Now she was alone.

The familiar thunder of the boat felt truly like home. Bittersweet feelings rose from the rumbling, and that dread came upon her again. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to block out the sight of the blood that littered the hold years before.

_'Ymir, how far are we going out today?'_

_'As far as you wish.'_

A giggle echoed through her ears.

_'Oh! Can we see the dolphins?'_

_'Why not?'_

_'Next time...we should see the world.'_

A distant laugh came about, she pushed it away.

She silenced the voices and drifted out onto the open waters- she won't let those memories surface again, she had a reason to come back.

"We're gonna go far, Blondie. Farther than that."

Her shaking hand pulled back on the lever.


	14. Chapter 14

"Over there, 500 yards, dock at the boathouse starboard," Ymir heard Petra's voice via intercom.

Ymir slowed the boat to a slow cruise so as to drift into the scene quietly. She observed the three up on deck through the windows, each of them were alive and well, quiet and stoic as usual. Peace and quiet, she somehow favored that before a mission, next to it was the hype she felt of putting bullets through the heads of easy targets. She pulled several levers and steered clear of any rocks nearby.

She saw Reiner hop off, indicating that the boat had reached a tie-down without difficulty.

Ymir put out her cigarette and undid the safety belts on her seat. She loaded her guns, unloaded them to count the bullets, and then reloaded them, satisfied that she was armed. Petra emerged from the hold, her hands busy with her own firearm- a Desert Eagle.

"This boathouse is part of the Reiss property, up the path and you'll see a big manor."

"Alright, once in, then what?"

"The fastest entrance to the laboratory's main room is in the study, or Doctor Hanji's study, but as security measures permit, we can't enter through that. It's automatically closed off after said researchers have been evacuated. We'll have to go through the front entrance."

Ymir nodded curtly and drew out a new one, she lit it anew and steeled herself.

"It's in the boathouse, it's easier to ship supplies through it," Petra finished. "I can get us in there."

"Sounds easy enough," Ymir agreed with her,"you guide me to get what I need."

Petra snorted and sighed,"What other choice do I have?"

"I could just kill you here, drag your corpse to the system, slap your hand here and there, your eyeball up there, and be on my merry way if you so wish," she suggested with a laugh under her breath; the sight of it was amusing, she ended up cracking a smile.

"After what you see for those experiments, you'd understand why I'd be willing actually."

Ymir shook her head and readied herself to get up, but then a feint buzzing came from the radio. She tilted her head, confused at such a sudden calling, but then Sasha's voice blared out of random,"Dancing Titan! Dancing Titan! Ymir, pick up!"

There was urgency in the calling, Ymir flung herself to the mic and ripped it out of it's stand, she nearly shouted,"What is it, Braus!?"

_"...bzzt...Krista- tshhhhhhhh, not awake, barely breathing- ksssssssh!"_

"Oh no," Petra murmured as the grip on the mic slackened.

_"Whatever ya do- tsssssssh, hurry- fuck up!"_

"Sasha!" Petra called out, she yanked it out of Ymir's hand. "It's Petra, get Krista to..."

Wait, was it already happening? But...she had twelve hours left. Just twelve hours, her heart was already failing. Even as Petra relayed instructions on how to care for Krista, it didn't sit well with her. The steel she set for herself started melting, it grew weak, just like her knees as she leaned against the wall.

Her knuckles grew white as she gripped the grips of her guns, her hands shaking.

"Yeah, keep her that way until we get here. Ral out."

She placed the mic down and found Ymir sulking- she approached her but was met with a barrel.

With the amount of times she had been threatened and shot at, she had grown accustomed to Ymir threatening her- she merely pushed the barrel away with the butt of her Eagle and slapped a free hand against Ymir's shoulder to snap her out of her trance.

She attempted to give her comfort in numbers. "This is only the early stage before total failure- we get in, get the drug, leave, and head back. She'll have at least eight hours, it'll take us an hour to get in and out of the labs and then four to to get to Trost. In total, we can shave off three hours at best. Does that help?"

"You said...there were experiments running about below us," Ymir started lowly.

"Fifteen minutes added. Not bad- huh- hey!" She shook her gently to force her to look directly at her. "If you want to save that girl, you need to keep yourself together- going on a rampage down there without thinking will get all of us killed."

Ymir slowly nodded, the numbers sounded sensible enough.

She stepped up the ladder and out of the hatch to see Reiner and Bertolt readying their guns. Upon making herself known, they glanced at her. Reiner reported,"Annie went off to scope the area-" A gunshot. "-she just got the party started."

"Your arm though, you can shoot with the shottie, right?" Ymir asked of him, eying the bandage.

"Oh, having concerns for me?"

She laughed dryly.

"A shot of morphine is helping him," Bertolt said,"I packed a couple just in case since you wanted his hand in this."

"Good job," Ymir praised him, she turned to Petra,"you told them about what's going on in there?"

"Ymir, we're not too happy about the whole Mikasa thing but with Annie by us, we should hold up much better here," Reiner relayed confidently, he pumped his gun once and stepped off the boat, following him was Bertolt. "Head-shot, go for the head."

"Go for the head," Petra confirmed. The shooting continued as they made their way to the boathouse, there, Annie emerged from the bushes while unloading a shell from her rifle. "You seemed to have a field day."

Reiner smiled. "Nothing fazes her, tell us to kill and we'll do it, all for cash of course. Animal, man, the undead, name it."

"Spoken like true war dogs," Ymir snorted as Petra went ahead of them into the wooden boathouse.

It was half the size of Jean's warehouse, and unlike his it wasn't lined with guns and engines. Come to think of it, it was utterly empty and free of anything that indicated boats were stored here save for several cranes and lifts decorated the ceiling. Ymir leaned against a water heater and watched as the short woman opened what looked like a power box and proceeded to push a scale of buttons.

A ray of light shinned upon her face- the eye scanner. Her hand pressed against a blue pad- the print scanner.

The approving ding resounded throughout the boathouse and the back wall started sinking into the ground to reveal a spacious boxed room to which rows of light lined the top corners. It was large enough for two of Sasha's trucks to park in, no doubt shipments were brought here. Petra gestured them to enter.

"Fighters first," she graciously told them.

They each entered and Petra followed, the wall closed in front of them while a secondary metal door slid closed.

"Level Three," Petra voiced out.

 _'Level Three'_ a cool, robotic voice responded.

"Voice commands, nice," Ymir commented with a low whistle,"rich bastards."

"Auruo used to try to see if he could get the System to repeat back swear words- after that, he needed me to help him go through security," Petra laughed, then she let out a longing sigh. "...out of this deal, I don't know who truly benefited from playing double. In the end, I live, and that matters."

Ymir nudged her shoulder. "Didn't a certain little bitch tell me not to lose my cool?"

"Not bad in reminiscing, the past makes you who you are after all."

Ymir rolled her eyes.

The bright numbers at the top of the door flashed 'Level One', only five minutes had passed that they went through the first floor underground.

"Why's this place so far?" Reiner inquired as he slid down against the wall to sit.

"Keeping away from the public and enemy sights is the best course," Petra explained,"the deeper we go, the more important the weapons are."

Ymir creased her brow, realizing something else. "If it's so deep, why are there freaks running about on the surface in Mitras and Hermiha?"

"Who says that this is the only research facility?"

"Jesus, to have to build them throughout the country. Are they all underground?"

"Not all of them."

Ymir rubbed the sweat away from her forehead. "Stupid idea, really, spreading out these freaks throughout the place."

Petra stretched her arms and let out a moan as the air escaped her lips. "Actually...there was a plan for this, well, the whole part where they were let loose was a last resort. As you know, Commander Smith was quite sore about being discharged. Doctor Hanji was one of his leading officers, naturally, given her extensive research, Reiss Company had to keep her as best they could- myself and Levi were chosen to relay information to Smith whenever something interesting comes up."

Bertolt inputted," _Interesting_ , as in biological weapons."

"Exactly. Operation Deliverance, this whole thing, was started two decades ago by Doctor Grisha Yaeger but was revived half a decade ago by Doctor Hanji. Once she started the program in full swing, Smith decided to take advantage of it should the time ever come-"

"Like being discharged," Ymir concluded.

Petra nodded. "You're smarter than you look." Ymir scowled. "Anyway, that who disbandment two years ago was the last straw. He commissioned Armin Arlert to hack into the System and release the experiments in two cities. Naturally, rules followed the disorder, Krista was to be disposed of shortly thereafter; without the cure and with specimens running amok, the government was also short on the manpower to regain control.

"Without any options left, the Prime Minster would be forced to run negotiations and return Smith to his previous position and eliminate the experiments."

"All of this is to get back power..."

"We lost Shiganshina years ago, it's stupid to rely on poorly built specimens to finish the job. Smith knew this best, he'd rather die than see this country fall into enemy hands- even if he had to bring it to the brink of self-destruction, it would be worth it."

Numbers and letters flashed _'Level Three'_ , the elevator groaned to a stop and they all remained on standby.

"Is Krista needed at the end of it all?" Ymir inquired.

"As far as I know and how many options there are left for the girl, you're free to take her; the Scouts won't be needing her," Petra reassured her.

A smile cracked into Ymir's face, she could leave this place with the prize and actually enjoy it. She stood at the head next to Petra as Bertolt and Reiner covered their flanks, Annie stood in the back as their sharpshooter. This formation was a first as she often went into fights on her own, but now as they entered a nest of animals, they were the prey for once, they had to stand on guard for this one.

"The main office to where Hanji usually stores her medication is half a mile from our position, it's just straight down the hall."

"Any reason you should stay alive?" Ymir asked her.

"You'll need me to open the door, idiot," Petra uttered.

The metal doors slid open, what was inside made all of them nearly lose their stomachs. Lining the walls and floors were trails of blood and strands of innards, the windows into the labs were splashed in red as well. The gore continued on, endless, the lights above brightly lit the hallway, leaving the crimson floors sparkling, shining almost. Ymir gagged, she couldn't hold it down at the sight of it.

This was way too much.

"Fuck this..."

She nearly held it in until she found a corpse standing just a foot away from her. It was a blond woman whose hand was holding a card key; the key itself was shoved in a slot by the elevator doors. Her stomach was torn open and ravaged, her stomach exposed for all of them to see. The putrid stench reached her nose, something about this blond...it reminded her of Krista-

That done it.

"Hurk! Urrrrh!" She belched out as she went to lean her arm against the door, she let her own stomach loose upon the floor. "Gaaaaaah!"

"Get yourself together!" Annie shouted as a hand went to pat Ymir's back.

She had seen her fair share of riddled bodies, hell, she even played cleaner once for a dismembered body but this one set her off.

"Ymir, c'mon!" Reiner barked.

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and shook away the other that was on her back. She blocked out the body and started to focus on the road ahead of her, she had to focus. Just focus.

"Sorry 'bout that," she snarled as she slowly recollected herself.

Her hands shook as she aimed straight ahead. She stepped over the corpse and started walking, it was all she knew how to do.

Ahead of them stood a figure, Ymir made to call out to him but Petra's hush silenced her.

Immediately, Annie let out a shot, the figure fell to the floor, dead in a lump. They advanced upon it to find it to be a naked, middle-aged man whose build was average. Nothing special save for the bloodied mouth and fingertips.

"Runner," Petra stated at a quick glance.

Reiner shuddered and they went on. Another figure appeared, nothing special about it either except that Ymir took it down with a single bullet.

"This doesn't seem that bad," Ymir finally said as she kicked the body away with her boot.

"Maybe something's keeping the rest back," Bertolt surmised.

"I'd rather have that."

"Just keep going," Petra coaxed them.

They ended up at an intersection to where on the left a very large man with bulging arms leered down at them. To the right, a woman who was in a crouching stance was readying to spring up. Immediately, Bertolt and Reiner took them down, their backs pressing against one another.

"Tank and Fighter," Petra said,"nice job."

"They don't seem that aggressive," Annie said,"the ones outside were."

"Too much stimulation then, I don't care, as long as we can kill them I'm fine with that," Ymir sighed.

She glanced back. Three figures were running at them, limbs flying erratically as they advanced quickly. She stared for a moment, then realized that they were Runners, each of them sprinting mad for their prey.

"Get down!" Ymir yelled to Annie and Reiner.

The two of them dropped to their knees as Ymir let out a barrage of bullets, only shooting down one. The other two were making a clear beeline for the ones on the ground. One got to Reiner, who immediately kicked off at the instant and fired a well-placed shot to the head. Annie, however, ended up on her back with the Runner grappling at her shoulders; jaws snapping like a dog.

Her rifle was knocked out of her hands, she was using her wrists to keep the freak at bay.

"Y-Ymir!" She gasped out, kicking at the floor.

Ymir reacted as quickly as she could, aiming directly for the head.

"Wasn't that how Krista done it?" Ymir asked aloud as she fired a round.

The Runner slumped to the side, head bleeding and staining Annie's sweater. The girl scrambled to her feet with the help of Bertolt's hand, she was shaken but otherwise unharmed.

"You good?"

"Fucking perfect," Annie huffed as she went to reach for her rifle.

"Next time, how about we all shoot?" Bertolt suggested. "Your aim isn't as good as it was before."

"My aim is fine," Ymir snapped.

"Dropping out does that to you," Reiner noted.

"None of you could shoot one at Mikasa, Krista managed to do so...and the girl tried to shoot me point blank but she fucking missed me!"

"Maybe she purposely missed-?"

"Enough with the chiding, we have a hundred more of these things running about, I'd like to keep going," Petra hissed as she had been the one to play look-out. She fired and gestured for them to follow.

Ymir rolled her eyes, telling Annie,"Consider this pay for getting me Petra," and continued on. The formation remained the same as it was earlier. Every round she let out, the closer she felt the end of this was, she was getting relieved at every corner they passed; the fear and disgust of the muddled environment didn't startle her at all now. Her guns grew hot in her hands, even the skin under the glove felt their warmth.

There wasn't any thrill in this mission, not one bit, she had a purpose other than money.

"That door there," Petra said when they finally reached the end of the hallway. "That's Hanji's office."

Ymir leaned against the wall and reloaded her guns, Bertolt and Reiner took the time as well to do the same.

"Beautiful," Ymir said, she looked up.

The sound of feet shuffling caught her ears and her eyes, she looked down the hallway to see at least more than two dozen walking specimens approaching them. Some big, some small, some unclothed, others clothed; they each had one common goal, to feed. Ymir backed up one step and trained her eyes on them, saying,"Petra." No response. "Petra, hurry up in opening the door."

Numerous disapproving beeps echoed through their ears, the lights that were meant to flash green gave out an unpleasant red, one that told them something was wrong.

"Petra!"

"I-It won't let me access it, it's saying my hands aren't valid- this is all wrong!"

"We're backed in a corner and we got a lot of things coming at us, we don't have the bullets, make something work!" Reiner yelled to her, now knowing the impending danger that was creeping towards them.

"Goddamn it!" Petra cursed.

Ymir started letting out the last of what she had left.

So did Annie, and Reiner.

But Bertolt only let out an empty click.

"Shit!"

Ymir had a last resort, she aimed her gun at Bertolt.

"Buy us time or die here and now, you'll still buy us time," Ymir demanded.

"You can't be serious!" Bertolt cried.

"Do as she says!" Petra urged him.

Annie took to aiming her rifle at Ymir. "We went this far and we're going to leave, we're not going on with your crazy shit anymore. We're taking her back."

Her barrel went the other way, to Petra. The woman was about to protest but Annie ruthlessly fired a round without a second thought. Ymir wanted to stop her, she truly did, but she was too late as she watched Petra slam back against the control panel with blood spurting onto its screen. She fell to the floor but Annie strode over to her to grab her by her hair and drag her along the way.

Bertolt stooped low and grabbed the pistol Petra once used. He checked it and approved of it, then followed Annie, his taller form bumped shoulders with Ymir and shoved by, uncaring for her. Reiner was the last to turn his back, but with him, Ymir reached for his shoulder.

"You're just-"

"Stay," Annie ordered over her shoulder as Reiner began to fight off the crowd.

They disappeared in a haze of smoke and blood, the lights flashed before her eyes as the deafening fires clouded her mind.

They just...left her.

"Fuck," Ymir whispered,"fuck, fuck, **fuck**!"

As they went on she yelled at them,"Fuck you! **Fuck all of you**!"

She whirled around to face the control panel.

"Fuck you too! Here I am, three miles down in the fucking earth and I can't get in to save someone I actually give a damn for! Fuck!"

She brought a leg up to kick at the bloodstained panel and shattered the glass.

_'Bzzzt!'_

"Shut the fuck up!"

A warm voice spoke from the intercom, it sounded delirious, _'Bzzzzzt, you out there?'_

Ymir paused and stared at the screen dumbly. "...I'm talking to a fucking wall and I got biological weapons behind me, that's it, I've fucking lost my mind. Annie's right..."

_'Whoever you are, the reason why the System denied Petra Ral's identification was because the System's been override by its own security system. All members, including myself, are barred from entering or exiting this particular room- ah, see the fellow on the right of the panel?'_

Ymir looked in that direction to see a dead security guard. Middle-aged and blond, he had a name-tag named 'Moblit'. "Uh-huh Mob-lee?"

_'Moblit, thank you. Above him is a ventilation shaft, go in it and use it to enter this room. I'll be waiting in here.'_

Ymir stared at it. Blinked, once, twice, and then headed over to it. Using whatever strength she had let, she hauled herself up and inside it. She could hear the bloodcurdling screams and the last shot to be fired. The finale, she felt it in her bones, that sound was hitting her too close to home.

She told herself before; this was pure, unadulterated insanity.

Under her breath, she asked herself,"Where the fuck am I?"


	15. Chapter 15

An open grate was what greeted her to her right.

"This should be the one," Ymir murmured.

She crawled a few feet ahead of it, then stuck her legs out, she then hoisted herself down and landed neatly upon the floor. Her hand went to her gun and drew it to the first sound of a safety going undone behind her.

Ymir whirled around to face a lanky brunette whose disheveled hair covered her almost mad-looking face. Blazing eyes gazed upon her from the safety of glasses. In the scientist's hands was an AK-47, standard issue of the military. Her lab coat was cast aside atop a chair's backrest, all she wore were beige slacks and a yellow dress shirt stained in dried blood.

"Doctor Hanji," Ymir addressed her curtly,"nice to finally meet the fucker who started it all."

"I'm more of a...resurrectionist," Hanji corrected her. "Pleasure of mine to actually see you in real life. I read up your file- pretty impressive for a criminal."

"Damn proud of it too."

Ymir wasn't.

Hanji shook her head. "If you're so proud of it, what brings you here? I've seen the footage of you making your way here- obviously this is more than just money. Whatever is worth stealing is long gone."

"I'm here for the steroids, that thing you inject into Krista."

The researcher immediately lowered her weapon, a smile cracked upon her already deranged face. "Project Historia is alive!?"

"She won't be any longer," Ymir flatly reminded her, she didn't take her aim off of her. "Where is it? Give it to me and we won't have to see each other again."

Hanji vigorously nodded. "Why, yes, yes, I'll gladly give it to- wait." She approached her, she disregarded the barrel as she stared into Ymir's eyes, calculating everything that they could see. "Ah, ah, let me guess, you want her alive because you have a thing for her- don't lie!"

Ymir snarled and shoved her away, she made her way to the screens and tried to make sense of the flashing lights and endless codes and charts. She turned back to Hanji. "Alright, I admit it. I want her alive because I actually care for her well-being; is it inhuman to grow attached to another?"

"No, perfectly normal. In fact, I'm glad she found someone. See, young Krista has been a test subject all her life- the things Grisha left in her had gone untouched until I came along. I improved her heart, made her stronger to the virus, and kept her alive all these years- you can say I cared for her like she was one of my own. Ever since I was stationed here, all I had to deal with dead-faced guards and mindless children, Krista was the only human in all of that.

"So believe me when I tell you this, I care for her more than anything. To know she is now out in the world and no longer in this prison makes me...well, ecstatic!"

She motioned for Ymir to follow, reluctantly she did as she holstered her gun.

The room was large enough for several bookcases to line the walls; to the front was the main entrance and to the right was a glass door. Hanji inserted her card key into a slot and the glass doors slid open to reveal a laboratory of sorts. Pieces of specimens lined the walls, jars of various chemicals neatly labeled lined the walls, and many diagrams also lined the walls.

In the center of it all were three lab tables, one of which was not used for a body but instead had test tubes, glass cylinders, the whole nine yards of equipment. Underneath this table were drawers, Hanji bent low and pulled one out; a mist of sorts and a hiss of air greeted them as she pulled out a red vial that was the size of her fist. She also pulled out a small kit.

"I care for Krista enough that if it were my call in this situation, I'd put her out of her misery myself," Hanji finally told her as she opened the box. Inside was a freshly prepared needle. "Coming close to the deadline...use the whole vial, you'll have to pierce her forear, squirt this in there and she'll be good for another two weeks."

Hanji neatly packed the vial into the kit and clipped it shut, she slid it to Ymir.

"This is the last of my stock. It takes time and resources to create this, all of which are now gone given to what Arlert has done...whatever Erwin has been planning, it better be worth it." She reached to Ymir and placed a hand upon her shoulder. "You'll only have two weeks left with the girl, after that, it's over."

"...you can't give me the 'How To Make' for this or something?" Ymir crossly asked her, she wanted to deny that there was that time left to spend. "I have a friend, she can try to replicate it."

"A meth chef won't do you well here, Ymir," she somberly relayed to her,"I'm sorry."

"...can't you come to the surface?"

Hanji cackled. "And be used for my work again? Look at my years of research, my fight for humanity, it'll all be destroyed for the sake of regaining ranks. After what Reiss had left me here, what Erwin plans to do, all those whose lives are lost on the surface because of my work? I spent a long time here...oh dear, I'm rambling."

"Then come out and help me keep Krista alive, it's better than working for any of those people," Ymir urged her, she took the box and clipped it to her belt. It rested neatly behind her, the weight reminding her to hurry home. "We plan to go far and leave this place-"

"If I'm recognized, all you'll be doing is running. Do you think Krista would want that life? A life running from everyone, paranoid that the world is there to attack her? Surely you'd know this of all people. I can't spend the rest of my life keeping her alive for your sake- it's better to erase my mark on the world for what I had wrought upon it, what Grisha had given as well."

She took in a deep breath.

"I've done a lot of thinking down here...and I know what I have to do- I just need more time," she said. She motioned for her to follow. They entered into another door that led into a cylindrical room that was fit for three people. Hanji spoke firmly. "Reiss Study, Surface Level."

_'Reiss Study - Surface Level. Voice Confirmation: Hanji Zoe.'_

"I thought everything was shut down, no one can go in or out sort of deal," Ymir said, brow raised.

"To an extent. I managed to isolate this thing but it only works with my own voice now. Security and all that." Hanji shoved her inside of it. "Tell Krista my deepest apologies, would you?"

Once she crossed the line, the doors closed behind her.

Ymir turned to bang her fist against the glass, but Hanji was gone, as was the lab. The elevator was taking her up, up to the surface.

-...-

As she was about to head to the surface, she glanced down at the box. She noticed some scotch tape with black writing scrawled on the side of the box, she bent herself back to see it.

_'My call'_

"Her call?" Ymir murmured.

Whatever.

She had the drug. She could save Krista.

Even if it were for two weeks.

The elevator stopped and the doors slid open; she found herself in an office room filled with numerous books. The study room. It was grand and clean, as if the chaos outside was nothing. Ymir drew both her guns and cautiously made her way to the door to where another story of the home screamed in terror.

Painted along the floor was a trail of blood, curiosity led her to follow it down the dark hallway. The Reiss home was large, it was much more extravagant than the Scout's HQ given that the floors were polished to a shine. The only upsetting sight was the floor's stains. She got to one knee and saw that there was a hand print.

"Dragged?" She asked.

She went in the opposite direction.

Soon, the blood ceased, a dark pool of the dried substance ceased in a hallway.

"Body must have been taken, her mother I think."

It wasn't a scuffle, they must have shot her without a fight.

She walked on.

Wandering the hallways, she saw the numerous paintings that decorated the hallway; her eyes told her they would have fetched a high price, but she wasn't here for stealing art. She had to get out of there, fast. She admired each for a moment before gliding on, then one painting obscured the neat order. It was one of a beautiful forest scenery, it was hanging by a corner as though someone knocked it over.

She examined the edge at the bottom to find strands of blond hair clinging to the corner.

"Krista..."

Parallel to it was a room with an open door.

She readied herself and entered the room, gun pointed at a stuffed animal sitting on a table.

She blinked, then realized that it was Krista's room.

It was a nice blue, the walls were painted in the light color, just like her eyes.

A bed with a canopy caught her attention, though the velvet blue curtains had been torn off. To the right was a desk to where papers had been scattered along the floor, a computer screen was laying face down on the floor, the keyboard hung off the edge by a wire. The chair was overturned. A book bag was carelessly tossed to the wall.

"...she must have gotten home...sat down here, someone approached her, startled her maybe..."

The scene played out in her head.

"...dragged her out of the desk, she tried to leave and maybe tripped to the bed, ended up getting dragged, pulled the drapes too..."

She followed her trail out.

"...managed to hit her head and got knocked out there..."

Krista must have- no, she had to have been scared.

She shuddered, then a small glistening object caught her eye. She squatted and pulled it up to find it to be a golden chain, attached to it was a large silver ring with a sapphire pendant- it looked too large for Krista's fingers. Just for kicks, Ymir slipped it on her ring finger and found that it fitted her perfectly.

A picturesque thought of the future danced a bit in her mind but she shook it away, it was stupid.

She slipped it off and simply wore the necklace around her neck- she would give it back once she returned.

-...-

Wandering about the home took her a good half hour before she found the boathouse and dock.

No further excitement rose as she leaped into the PT boat and undid the rope. The group she entered it with were long dead, no doubt, and Hanji was nowhere in sight. Less people to have to worry about, it was perfect. She seated herself in the pilot's seat and started the engines. In the darkness she steered on, the Sina River memorized from years of going up and down it before.

As she went on, thoughts bounced back and fourth.

Krista was slated to die from birth, only prolonging her death were the bastards of Reiss Company...but forget about them, they're nothing. Ymir got what she needed- Krista was given an extra two weeks, two weeks and then- shit.

"This will be worth it," Ymir told herself repeatedly.

Just fill the PT boat with gas, get the needed supplies, and go out as far as the Marian Sea can take them, and beyond. Go far, very far- she had to hurry to see the girl sitting at the bow like some majestic mermaid as they race along clear waters. She went full throttle, ignoring the chaos outside of her boat.

Forget the Scouts, forget Reiss, forget the life they had here.

Start anew.

A chance at a second life.

This sort of thing drove Ymir mad, it was what she desired the most in her existence.

Fuck everything else.

She reached for the radio and dialed in the frequency she found Sasha last.

"Braus?"

_"Fssssssssssh!"_

"Brause!?"

_"Fssssssh- Ymir!"_

"I got the medicine. Coming home in two, get a gas tank ready for when I get there, and a stock up on supplies, I'll be heading out ASAP."

 _"Great!"_ She seemed enthusiastic. _"About Krista...I got her to wake up, she'll be waiting for ya- hey!"_

_"Ymir?!"_

"Krista!" Hearing her voice, it lifted her spirits as though the scare from earlier was just a dream. "Blondie, you doing alright?"

_"I...I can hardly-fssssssssh! But I'm holding on...Sasha told me about it- fssssssh, I know now- come back soon!_

"I will, I will. Just sit tight on that nice ass you got, I'll be there."

Never before had she felt truly happy to return from a job.

-...-

She entered the Bay of Trost before midnight.

The black waters weren't so much of a sore sight to see. The run down pick-up to where Sasha had parked it by the dock wasn't bad to see as well. Sasha was already on standby, rope at hand and a smile shining upon her face; it was over. As Ymir stepped up on deck, Sasha peeked around.

"Where are the others?" Sasha asked, smile faltering.

"Dead," Ymir said, grimacing.

Sasha shrugged. It wasn't abnormal to her. "Did ya do it?"

"More of them, they tried to fucking leave me."

"Sounds like somethin' they'd do."

No sympathy.

Ymir brushed her hair and let out a huff. "Where is she?"

"In the truck, go over to her, I'll load things up for your boat."

"Need help?"

"Just bring the stuff from the bed into your hold- I'll do the gas part."

Ymir walked over to the truck, though there was a bounce in her steps. She unhooked the box and opened the front passenger door to see Krista gazing up at her; she was fairly weak, barely breathing, but overall alive. Ymir smiled down at her and kissed her forehead once she faced her.

"I went through fucking Hell to get this for you, you better appreciate it," Ymir told her as she rested the box on her lap. She undid the latches and pulled out the red vial, then the syringe. She pierced the rubber stopper with the needle and drew all of the liquid. "Krista, this was the only one left."

"That...will give me two weeks," Krista said, voice soft.

"Yeah, Blondie, but we'll be going pretty far with that- the PT boat can go faster than the ketch."

Krista let out a warm smile, the hope that filled her eyes also filled Ymir's chest. Immediately, she brought out her left forearm, Ymir gently grabbed it and checked for the blood vessel. Once she found it, she pierced her skin and injected the fluid into her; it was gone in a steady pulse and she withdrew the needle.

Krista breathed slowly.

They waited for a few minutes.

"Feeling any better?" Ymir asked, impatient and anxious.

"I feel great, just tired is all."

She kissed her temple and gathered up the box. She tossed it to the floor.

"...thank you- oh," Krista suddenly said.

She reached to Ymir's chest to touch the ring that hung by the chain. "Found it in your place."

"I don't have much to give anymore, keep that."

Ymir held her hand as well.

"Thanks, though ten million would have been appreciated just as well."

Krista weakly laughed and closed her eyes.

"I'll help Sasha with the stock. Sleep for a while, alright?"

Krista didn't respond anymore, she was already fast asleep.

Maybe she was dreaming too.

By day break they would be on the high seas.

Ymir smiled even wider as she went to the back and left her door open.

She accepted two weeks, so did Krista.

They may as well make it last, good things never stayed for long.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Bottom of the page contains an explained sub-plot that was not covered in the story.
> 
> Also, please listen to Linda Ronstadt's "Blue Bayou" while reading this chapter. Just...do it.

The first time she remembered seeing the sun and sea, she remembered she was liberated.

She could have gone to a family, she could have gone to school, she could have let the horrors of the past go behind her.

But she stayed on her side of the tracks.

Born and raised in filth, she embraced it fully and picked up her gun; she continued on with her fight against the world. Running amok, she was one of the most feared people in that city. She lived like a god, all cowered before her, the power was more addicting than whatever Sasha could cook up. But ever since that day, the day when she stumbled upon a girl in the streets, she realized how small she was.

How limited her power was in life was realized the moment she entered the hold of the first Dancing Titan.

She stared blankly at the now empty hold of her new ship. She heard Sasha above her, walking to and fro, ensuring the fuel was safely stowed away in the tanks.

Within the hour she would leave this place and truly live.

 _"Ymir,"_ a voice called to her.

"Hm?"

She turned around, finding no one. Damn, she must have been tired. Hearing voices that were long dead, that was never a good sign.

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she placed down the last of the supplies. Each of the boxes were tucked away in storage for the long trip. She had to say her good-byes to Sasha, she knew she wouldn't leave this place; she wasn't the type to drift around as she found her niche.

"Ymir!"

That was Sasha.

"In the hold!" Ymir called to her.

Within minutes, the brunette was climbing down the ladder.

"So...this is how it goes," Ymir started once she was in sights.

"Never imagined it to be so peaceful, always thought it'd be me at the end of yer gun or one'a us dyin' in blaze'a glory," Sasha jokingly laughed.

She reached out to her to clap hands with her, but instead Ymir embraced her. "Can't thank you enough for this."

"It's'll good," Sasha said as she embraced her back with a sharp breath. "Where ya plannin' on sailin' to, Captain?"

Ymir released her. "Wherever the wind takes us, somewhere far. You leaving too?"

Sasha shook her head. "Later. Once I heal up...maybe I can convince Connie to get us to go, maybe call in Jean too- with whatever the Reiss Co. got, I'd like to get out as soon as possible. One day, when we see each other, let's share drinks and laugh again, yeah?"

"It'll be on the house, man," Ymir chuckled as she headed out, Sasha closely followed her. Once up on deck, she looked out at the bright lights of Trost. They were at the same wharf where Ymir once lived at. "Damn, I hate this place. Every corner is shit, every person is shit, you and I, we're both shit."

"Amen," Sasha responded as she pulled out a cigarette, she gave one to Ymir and the smoked the rest of their time away. "What's that thing ol' Shakespeare said? Partin' is such sweet...sorrow?"

"Nailed it. Didn't know you could read."

"Ya taught me."

Ymir smirked and released a gray smoke up into the air. "Guns too. Y'know, you coulda lived a different life, why'd you stick with me?"

"Yer god to me, really, when all prayers didn't work, ya came trottin' along. As a kid, I woulda followed ya to the ends of the earth. What ya did back in Shiganshina for me, I'd be the one thankin' ya. Ya ain't so much of'a bad person, Ymir, yer a hard person to crack and I'm surprised ya got soft for that girl there. Never seen ya smile since...that other one."

Ymir glanced at her. "You knew?"

"I don't like to bring up the past once they're below the surface, but that smile ya had before...kinda missed that. When ya told me the circumstances of Krista, I got scared for ya. Don't want ya to fall like that again before- someone who's name is already writtin' in Death's book, never a good thing, but yer stubborn. What's that thing ya told me? Ya gotta enjoy life?"

"Yeah."

"If ya enjoy it with her, stay with her." She looked up at the stars. "Give her the best two weeks at sea, yeah?"

"Fuckin' hell I will."

"Back then we lived as gods, ya coulda given her the world then."

"I'll give it to her now, and more too to boot."

"Damn, ain't much of a romantic but that's some sweet shit."

"I can please when I want to."

They passed the rest of their time together smoking it away.

Once done, they embraced one another and accompanied each other back to the truck. Ymir looked over Krista once more, scooped her up from her seat, and carried her bridal style. Sasha couldn't help but smile as she watched them leave for the boat.

Ymir disappeared within it, Sasha looked down at the ground to the disposed box. She reached for it and examined the empty vial.

"She went through hell for her...damn."

-...-

The boat rocked up and down in the gentle waves that splashed against the bow.

The motion was common yet she woke up late in the day. It was her own snoring that roused her, she snorted and threw her legs over the edge to sit up. As blood rushed down from her head, she reached over to the non-existent table off the side of her bed for a bottle of beer, but she found nothing. She was in a small room, not like her old room aboard the ketch.

Cold metal greeted her, along with a small door; this was her own cabin.

She yawned and stretched.

She forgot how far she went, but she made careful note as to where she sailed last night. Avoiding enemy waters, she went on South in a western sort of fashion- they went on and on until sleep truly took over. Surely she passed Shiganshina by now.

Ymir got out in only boxers and a tank top, she headed to the helm and seated herself at the seat. She checked the area, yawned once more, and looked at the radar. No one was approaching, she relaxed and felt herself to be more at ease. As she rubbed her eyes, a pair of hands touched her shoulder and wrapped around her neck, a pair of lips breathed warm air against her ear.

"Morning, Captain," she heard her say.

"Morning, Stowaway," she murmured back to her.

She turned and kissed her fully on the lips, but then the blond went around to sit on her lap.

Damn, she's going to love this wake up call.

"Last I remembered, you're the one who stowed me away," Krista said between kisses.

Ymir's hands traveled to her back to hold her. "True, very true."

She softly laughed,"So what's our destination?"

"Maybe the South China Sea, just a few hundred leagues away."

"China, exotic," Krista muttered as she dove to kiss her neck.

"Yeah, exotic. A week to get there."

She suddenly stopped her ministrations.

"...Ymir?"

"Yeah, Blondie?"

"What were you before, exactly? Before Trost."

Ymir leaned her head back to think. "Hm...to put it to modern terms, I was a pirate."

Krista giggled,"Did you wear a fancy hat with a feather on top? Did you have a parrot too?"

"Ha! Hat, no. And Sasha was my parrot."

"Did you pillage ships?"

"All kinds."

"And what was your biggest prize?"

Ymir kissed her softly and whispered,"You, though you were actually more of a salvage."

She ground her hips against hers.

Krista hitched her breath and returned to biting her along the neck.

-...-

The sun dipped low in the sunset as they rode the waves, the vastness of the ocean led Krista to stand at the bow. At first, Ymir objected it but with much persistence, the girl was sitting there, just like in that dream.

Life was good, she savored watching her in that nice white dress, her blond hair cascading over her shoulders and kissed by the sun and the sea, the wind and the sea air. Eventually, the girl stood up and walked over to her to tap on the glass, prompting Ymir to slow the boat down and bring it to a halt. She clambered up on deck to see Krista giddily pointing out.

"Dolphins!" She cried out happily and in wonder.

The gray porpoises were leaping here and there, and once the boat had stopped, they drew closer.

Ymir draped and arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. "Well what do you know, they're out here, must be migrating."

With the red hue of the skies above them, it truly was a beautiful sight.

"It's so...perfect out here."

"That's why I chose to live on the ocean. I coulda moved inland...but being free is what I lived for," Ymir sighed as she kissed her head. That scent, it was there, and she loved it. "The world is so vast...being out here, I feel like everything back there has been a dream."

It was.

Krista pulled her hand. "Can we...swim with them?"

Ymir glanced about. "...why not?"

She instantly picked up Krista and tossed her into the ocean, laughing harder at her screams. She started stripping down to her tank stop and boxers to follow in after her, diving in neatly as Krista waded in the water, pouting.

"You bitch!" She yelled as she splashed water at her upon surfacing.

Their frolicking piqued the creatures' curiosity as they swam closer but they kept a large distance from them.

"You wanted to swim!"

They swam near the boat, not wanting to drift too far. Unfortunately, the dolphins had decided to move on, leaving them alone, though it didn't matter; they were enjoying the water. Eventually, Krista floated by the edge of the boat, her back resting against it. Her hair was plastered to her face, wet and dark; Ymir swam over to her and clung an arm to the metal ladder hooks.

"Y'know, you look like a mermaid, hair like that and dress flowing there," Ymir commented huskily.

"A mermaid?" Krista chewed on the thought. "Creatures that lured men to love them, then they pull them into the depths to their deaths, right?"

"Closest thing you were when I pulled you out in Trost."

They pressed their foreheads together, enjoying the closeness of one another. She smiled once more, a genuine smile.

"Ymir...I've been thinking."

"Hm?"

"When this is over, I want you to do one thing."

Ymir's heart suddenly slammed in her throat before sinking. "...what is it?"

"I want you to live and see the world for yourself. Don't throw your life away when I go."

"I've seen enough of it- Krista..."

"Just do that for me."

She stared into her blue eyes, how could she? How long had it been? A month or less? She couldn't just do it like that. Krista...she became the only world she had after leaving Trost; she was all she knew in this life, all she knew how to live, all that she lived for now.

Where else would she go?

She felt those small hands grasp at her cheeks to take her attention back.

"Ymir, promise me," Krista earnestly requested. "Promise me you'll live."

"I..." She choked on her words. Only a day out into the vast sea, into the world, and only know was she reminded of their limited time. "Please..."

Krista's hand traveled to the chain around her neck, she snapped it off and tossed the chain away. She took the ring in her fingers, she reached for Ymir's left hand and slipped the ring onto her ring finger; she brought it to her lips and kissed the silver band.

"Live."

Ymir shook her head and pressed her forehead against hers again, she was too close to her; she felt her eyes burn with the salt of the sea and her tears. She was choking once more, she didn't want the girl to leave her; she didn't want to live without her. She had been playing with the thought of a way out earlier in times she was alone in the seat. She just...

"Krista, don't do this to me."

"I'm very sorry, Ymir, I really am- dear, don't cry."

She pushed Ymir's chin up so that she could kiss away those tears that had rolled down.

The sea was a vast place, a lonely one at that. If only Krista knew of it, if only she knew.

Ymir didn't know if she did.

"Ymir, I'm just as scared as you."

-...-

Fear.

It drove people to madness.

Ymir was mad. No, not enraged, just driven mad.

A week later from that evening, as the sun stooped low once again, she found Krista sitting at the bow once more, watching the sun set; the handheld radio sat by her. In another white dress, one that was shorter than yesterday's, fitted her figure nicely.

Sasha must have packed that for her.

As if the dream came to haunt her, Linda Ronstadt was playing on some station Krista managed to get a hold of. It had just begun, that song, Ymir felt the fear ebb away just by listening to the gentle strums of the guitar and the bass.

She started in a low voice, _"I feel so bad, I've got a worried mind...I'm so lonesome all the time."_

"You know this song?" Krista asked, not turning.

"I like the old stuff," Ymir said to her, stopping right behind her.

She counted her bullets again, then let the magazine slide back into place.

_"Saving nickels, saving dimes...Working til the sun don't shine...Looking forward to happier times...On Blue Bayou."_

Krista suddenly stood up, Ymir clicked the safety and tucked the gun behind her in the band of her belt. "Let's dance!"

That smile, Ymir wanted to see it again. She offered her hands to her and embraced her closely as they stood at the bow, slowly dancing as Ymir sang along with Linda. At every chorus, Krista picked up and went along with her. They were slow, the lull of the lazy song brought their world to a stop, whatever they had feared disappeared with the sweet song.

Ymir nearly forgot the gun at her back.

"You have the most lovely voice ever, Ymir," Krista sighed between the break.

They locked lips for a moment.

Ymir chuckled and held her close. "I have free time when I'm not busy pirating."

She ended up skipping the climax of the song to listen to Krista.

"You should sing more often."

_"Oh some sweet day gonna take away...This hurting inside..."_

There was a heaviness in her voice, Krista had picked up on it quickly.

"Ymir."

_"Well I'll never be blue..."_

Ymir reached behind her, the cold metal sent her heart pounding, Krista could hear in her ears as her head rested against her chest.

"...Ymir?"

_"My dreams come true..."_

She wished she said her name just one more time; she didn't.

_"On Blue Bayou..."_

The song had ended, as did her world.

They stopped at the edge.

Ymir brought the gun to Krista's head as she held her, softly she began,"...I really enjoyed every moment we had. In another life, I'd've love you more than anything."

"What are you talking about?"

Ymir bit her lip.

She ignored her question. "Just look at the sea, Krista. What do you see?"

Ymir saw a vast world. One in which the sun was setting quietly in the calm horizon. As the pink hue disappeared and gave way to darkness, the ocean's blue was inked with black, a world that Ymir no longer could stand sailing upon alone. She waited patiently as the barrel inched closer to the back of her head.

"I see a life waiting to be lived-"

"No, what do you really see?"

"I...see the night. It's getting dark, but...I feel safe with you by my side."

"It's beautiful, isn't it? Just like you."

"Ymir, you're always talking about another life, how you would have loved me then, don't you love me now?"

Ymir bit her lip, she drew in a sharp breath and brokenly let out,"That's the problem, I do love you-"

She pulled the trigger, it was over.

A flash of light and the deafening sound of her gun startled her for once, but she clung to the limp body of the girl she pulled out of the water weeks before. The crimson liquid seeped and bled down from the blond's rich locks and onto her dress, onto Ymir's hands and shirt, onto her very soul. She breathed deeply, remembering every moment they spent with one another; she pulled the girl closer.

Nothing more to say, nothing more to do, just nothing.

The radio blared on.

The world had continued to turn.

The head of Reiss Company had been assassinated by a former scientist. The Prime Minister had brought order by instilling the Scouts back into the military, ranks and glory restored. The threat of the bastardized experiments had been eliminated. The Reiss Company was split between various ownerships and so on.

Their existence meant nothing to the world.

She kicked the radio overboard, causing it to short-circuit and suddenly shut up.

Ymir then brought the gun to her own head.

It was over.

She took control of life and changed its horrid course, it was her turn to deal with fate in her own hand.

She buried her nose into her hair to take in her scent of the sea for the last time.

One shot and she was over.

Ymir was no more.

She became another memory below the surface.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Explicit details about the background of this story can be found [here at the bottom of the page](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10309821/16/Below-the-Surface).
> 
> To cover up an unexplained sub-plot: Mikasa and Eren were two children orphaned after Grisha Yaeger left them; their background was that an unnamed faction conspired against the government and set off to kill the Yaeger family as Grisha was the head researcher for the Reiss Company. The children survived and were raised by Hannes; wanting revenge (of course), Eren and Mikasa entered the criminal underworld to gain a foothold and search for their assassins, they managed to get entangled in the military and got into the ranks of the Scouts. Their goal was to fish out the conspirators by causing havoc in Trost, and so the story went on; their goal was not accomplished. The conspirators go unnamed but they did involve some bits of the Scouts. Thanks to Hanji and the illegal technology the Scouts obtained, they were able to mutate the two into super humans but that only took them so far in life.
> 
> To cover up another thing: Hanji stayed in the lab because it was the only place where she could keep tabs on Krista, Eren, and Mikasa. She also assassinated Lod Reiss, thus ending the company and forcing it into the hands of the high officers of the Scouts.


End file.
